46,100 Shares in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 46,100 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,227,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $62,478,000 after purchasing an additional 272,726 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 50.7% during the third quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 50,144 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after buying an additional 16,868 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,687,524 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $169,018,000 after buying an additional 117,888 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,970,872 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $627,068,000 after buying an additional 141,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,249,858 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $78,604,000 after buying an additional 182,714 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, September 10th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 122,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,955.22. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,848 shares of company stock worth $7,911,621. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $62.88 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.39. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.54 and a 1-year high of $80.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The natural resource company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 13.03%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.0750 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 12.61%.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) is a global mining company primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of copper. Copper is used extensively in electrical wiring, construction, transportation, renewable energy systems, and other industrial applications. The company also produces gold and molybdenum, a metal used in steelmaking and other industrial processes, as well as certain other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America, and Indonesia.