Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Grows Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,575,357 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,040 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.25% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $168,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, American National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.50 to $62.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,438,509.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded up $2.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,794,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,916,135. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.12, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.