Leavell Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,622 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Boston Partners grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13,248.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,351,630 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $227,747,000 after purchasing an additional 5,311,538 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $160,160,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $141,407,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 57.4% in the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,391,230 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $201,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 302.7% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,393,264 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $112,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799,028 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $51.20. The stock had a trading volume of 16,863,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,506,162. The stock has a market cap of $73.43 billion, a PE ratio of 45.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 2.02. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.57. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,707,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,438,509.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.