Quadrature Capital Ltd Increases Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3,203.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 554,538 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 537,750 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $21,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $60,840,000 after buying an additional 115,285 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 33,959 shares during the period. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd now owns 113,100 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,903,000 after acquiring an additional 53,100 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,213,000 after acquiring an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Momentum Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth $3,459,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of FCX opened at $59.15 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $69.75. The stock has a market cap of $85.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.81. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FCX. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Argus raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.59.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,975,679.35. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last 90 days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.