Quadrature Capital Ltd Boosts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3,203.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 554,538 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 537,750 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $21,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% in the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. The trade was a 25.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of FCX opened at $59.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average price 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.59.

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.