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

National Bank of Canada FI cut its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 60.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 554,064 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 862,601 shares during the period. 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 added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. TCG Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,785,000. First National Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 68,377 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,053,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,529,843.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares in the company, valued at $187,438,509.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 310,896 shares of company stock worth $15,811,399 in the last three months. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $50.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $73.05 billion, a PE ratio of 45.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.52.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.