Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CAO Sells $992,251.50 in Stock

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen Higgins sold 14,277 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of FCX stock traded up $2.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $69.45. The company had a trading volume of 17,107,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,398,715. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.67. The company has a market cap of $99.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. CICC Research reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.