Westpac Banking Corp Reduces Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Westpac Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 74.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,746 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 19,776 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares in the last quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $412,808,000 after acquiring an additional 3,593,050 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,844,504 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $150,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,302 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $181,490,000 after buying an additional 2,813,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 139.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,327,245 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $187,586,000 after buying an additional 2,518,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,529,149.19. This represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.73.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE FCX opened at $68.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.33. The stock has a market cap of $98.28 billion, a PE ratio of 45.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.47.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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.