Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,875 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,568 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,451,285,000 after buying an additional 305,912 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,371,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,451 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,756,034 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $662,123,000 after purchasing an additional 709,114 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,732,045 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $329,153,000 after purchasing an additional 223,960 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 18.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,393,868 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $238,427,000 after purchasing an additional 986,703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 365,667 shares of company stock valued at $18,592,670 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.39. 13,065,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,290,874. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $52.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.07.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.