Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Stock Holdings Boosted by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 137,797 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,575 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $8,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $62,478,000 after acquiring an additional 272,726 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $16,122,000 after purchasing an additional 213,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 206,938 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $10,510,000 after purchasing an additional 86,938 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, CICC Research dropped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.27.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% 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, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012 in the last quarter. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $69.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $72.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.25.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

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.