Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 36.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,854,853 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,060,970 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up approximately 0.9% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $72,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Clarkson Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139 in the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $68.84 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $69.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.19. The company has a market capitalization of $98.94 billion, a PE ratio of 45.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.