Legal & General Group Plc Has $302.08 Million Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,702,237 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 240,687 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.54% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $302,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased 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 buying an additional 687 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% in the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total transaction of $15,576,346.80. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,509,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $220,372,673.20. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $61.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.87%.

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.