North Dakota State Investment Board Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 49,047 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,491,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $60.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $70.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.32.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 15.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.14.

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.