Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Acquires 723 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,964 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 723 shares during the quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,451,285,000 after acquiring an additional 305,912 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,752,726 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,543,676,000 after purchasing an additional 419,603 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,371,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,451 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 16,647,339 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $708,677,000 after purchasing an additional 595,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,758,947 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $458,008,000 after purchasing an additional 592,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:FCX traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,546,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,832,552. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $69.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.96. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.12.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.