Fisher Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 1,030,451 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for 1.2% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 3.89% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $2,371,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 122.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. HSBC upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,438,509.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE FCX traded down $1.26 on Thursday, hitting $48.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,288,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,163,893. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $52.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.68. The firm has a market cap of $69.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.17, a PEG ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 2.02.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.