Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,083 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 207 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $716,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the first quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 157,734 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 257,097 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $12,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $303,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,926,372 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $90,270,000 after buying an additional 13,840 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.6 %

FCX traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $50.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,341,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,846,154. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.66 and its 200 day moving average is $45.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

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.