First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 4,628 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,003 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,628 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in 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 during the period. American National Bank increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,707,249 shares in the company, valued at $187,438,509.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $50.65 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.92.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

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.