Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 541,778 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 113,136 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $23,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,451,285,000 after buying an additional 305,912 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,371,604,000 after buying an additional 1,030,451 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,756,034 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $662,123,000 after buying an additional 709,114 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,732,045 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $329,153,000 after buying an additional 223,960 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,232,130 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $265,302,000 after buying an additional 840,900 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Argus raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.51 on Friday, reaching $51.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,535,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,923,914. The company has a market capitalization of $74.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.65, a P/E/G ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 2.02. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $47.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.45. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 365,667 shares of company stock valued at $18,592,670 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

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.