Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Bought by Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,550,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 360,000 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up about 4.4% of Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $100,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% during the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 2.1%

FCX stock opened at $58.73 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.36, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.60.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Johnson Rice dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.30.

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.