Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors purchased 87,555 call options on Freeport-McMoRan, 49% above the average call volume of 58,600, signaling elevated bullish interest.
• Shares surged: FCX rose 6.2% to $75.62, near its 12-month high of $77.33. The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, although revenue declined 7.3% year over year.
• Analyst and institutional support: Institutional investors own 80.77% of the stock, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $70.27; insiders have sold shares recently.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 87,555 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 49% compared to the average volume of 58,600 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $6,619,611,000 after buying an additional 1,572,769 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,244,504,000 after acquiring an additional 622,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,873,136 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,193,327,000 after acquiring an additional 395,226 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,489,069,000 after purchasing an additional 7,044,775 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $4.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.62. 16,144,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,989,406. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $35.15 and a twelve month high of $77.33.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The company's revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

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