Wright Investors Service Inc. Purchases 8,496 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,783 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,496 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at $264,000. Breakwater Capital Group lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 41.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 14,680 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 4,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 111.1% during the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,775 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 20,407 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 5th. Dbs Bank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, CICC Research decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.60 to $42.30 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.30.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $59.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.51 and a 200-day moving average of $44.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.20, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.45. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $60.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 21.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.