Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 4,547 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,645 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,547 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $345,000. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at $257,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 59,234 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 20,212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $48.60 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The stock has a market cap of $69.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.17. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of 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 a total of 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.