Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Syntax Research Inc.

Syntax Research Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 75.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,664 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 39,509 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 0.6% of Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,539 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Essex Bank increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:FCX opened at $72.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $104.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $80.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director directly owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total transaction of $6,284,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271 over the last ninety days. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.27.

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.