Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,188,704 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,748 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.92% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $517,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $65.83 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.46 and its 200-day moving average is $49.07. The stock has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 43.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares in the company, valued at $216,975,679.35. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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.