Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 35.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,737,750 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 967,918 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $68,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,760,188 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $5,049,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,241 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 899,699 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,787,174 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,678,474,000 after purchasing an additional 320,514 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $849,945,000 after buying an additional 435,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after buying an additional 8,292,873 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% 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, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. The trade was a 37.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $62.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $89.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $69.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is 19.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus 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.