Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Boosts Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 205.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 317,429 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 213,477 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $16,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 73,002 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $60,840,000 after purchasing an additional 115,285 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,959 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 426.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 81,892 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after purchasing an additional 66,331 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.14.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.7%

FCX opened at $60.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $87.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $70.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.17.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

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.