Stableford Capital II LLC Acquires 36,123 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Stableford Capital II LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 121.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,900 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,123 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan comprises 1.2% of Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,760,188 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $5,049,975,000 after buying an additional 1,776,241 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,258,414 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,480,995,000 after acquiring an additional 899,699 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,477,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,450,384,000 after acquiring an additional 690,736 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $849,945,000 after purchasing an additional 435,963 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Scotiabank increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total value of $15,576,346.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,509,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,372,673.20. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.1%

FCX opened at $55.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $80.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.39 and its 200-day moving average is $50.57. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.75.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

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.