Thompson Investment Management Inc. Purchases 2,245 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 198,684 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up about 1.4% of Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $9,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 16,891 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,656,836 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,369,312,000 after buying an additional 976,592 shares during the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 2,917,913 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $124,216,000 after acquiring an additional 211,608 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 345,917 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $14,726,000 after acquiring an additional 20,894 shares during the period. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 647,691 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $27,572,000 after purchasing an additional 240,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX traded down $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $49.34. The company had a trading volume of 4,121,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,125,324. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.94. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 43.87, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FCX. UBS Group lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

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.