Insider Selling: Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CAO Sells 28,423 Shares of Stock
by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets DailyFreeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX – Get Free Report) CAO Stephen Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was 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 owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance
NYSE FCX traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.41. 16,644,711 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,495,912. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $49.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.38. The company has a market capitalization of $68.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.49.
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.
Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.13%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.50 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.30.
View Our Latest Research Report on FCX
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $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 position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.
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