Korea Investment CORP Acquires 280,540 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 29.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,224,505 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 280,540 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $77,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the fourth 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. increased its position 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 increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $721,806,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192,955 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,784,156 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,012. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $77.33. The stock has a market cap of $110.11 billion, a PE ratio of 37.77, a PEG ratio of 0.71 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $64.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.42.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

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.