Employees Retirement System of Texas Decreases Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Employees Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,591,377 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 11,039 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $62,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% in the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,333 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 45,133 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,095 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,404 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $59.15 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.81. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.75. The company has a market cap of $85.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Argus raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.59.

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.