Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 9,653 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 325.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,622 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 9,653 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $721,806,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192,955 shares during the period. Finally, PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $198,523,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $62.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.35. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $72.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.61 and its 200 day moving average is $60.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. Weiss Ratings raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. CICC Research reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Two research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.27.

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.