Empirical Finance LLC Has $2.44 Million Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,802 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $51.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.66 billion, a PE ratio of 45.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.73.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Activity

In other Freeport-McMoRan 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 transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.