Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases 462 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,377 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 462 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,451,285,000 after acquiring an additional 305,912 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,371,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,451 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,756,034 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $662,123,000 after purchasing an additional 709,114 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $279,977,000 after buying an additional 102,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,393,868 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $238,427,000 after buying an additional 986,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 310,896 shares of company stock valued at $15,811,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX traded up $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.45. The stock had a trading volume of 14,498,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,456,276. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $52.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.86 and a 200 day moving average of $40.84. The company has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 2.02.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. HSBC increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.