Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Cuts Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 692,189 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 65,758 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $43,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $721,806,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192,955 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,489,069,000 after acquiring an additional 7,044,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,498,267 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $675,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,784,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. CICC Research lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $110.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.15 and a 12 month high of $77.33.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,951. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.