Insider Selling: Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CFO Sells 48,500 Shares of Stock

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CFO Maree Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,917,475.70. The trade was a 37.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.56. 17,240,572 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,909,543. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.84 billion, a PE ratio of 41.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.44.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 19.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth about $560,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.3% in the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 44,643 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 5,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $487,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. CICC Research upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.64.

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.