National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 60.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 554,064 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 862,601 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $23,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 8,609 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 441,096 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $16,448,000 after acquiring an additional 13,090 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.1% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at about $130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,065,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,290,874. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $52.52. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $46.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.14. The company has a market cap of $73.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total value of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,667 shares of company stock worth $18,592,670 in the last three months. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on FCX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.07.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.