Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,128 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 15,832 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 111,194 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $590,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.07.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 365,667 shares of company stock worth $18,592,670 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $51.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $52.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.27.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.