Trust Co. of Vermont Purchases 400 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 10.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,349 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.6% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 20,656 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 3,239 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 217.1% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 27,964 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 19,144 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the second quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,462,913 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $71,098,000 after buying an additional 21,829 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.8% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 292,661 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $14,168,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE FCX traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,217,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,692,813. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $58.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.26.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.07.

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.