Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Sells 8,173 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 51.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,675 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 8,173 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $721,806,000 after purchasing an additional 7,192,955 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,489,069,000 after acquiring an additional 7,044,775 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,498,267 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $675,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,784,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 4.1%

NYSE FCX opened at $69.02 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.15 and a 52 week high of $72.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

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.