ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Buys 109,000 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 221.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 158,330 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 109,000 shares during the quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $6,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,760,188 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $5,049,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,241 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 62,358,715 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,703,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926,493 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,787,174 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,678,474,000 after purchasing an additional 320,514 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $849,945,000 after buying an additional 435,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after buying an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $62.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $69.44. The company has a market capitalization of $89.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.24 and its 200 day moving average is $47.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 573,486 shares of company stock worth $35,791,937 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. CICC Research boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.64.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.