J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Buys 43,188 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,379 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 43,188 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after acquiring an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $412,808,000 after buying an additional 3,593,050 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,844,504 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $150,781,000 after buying an additional 2,856,302 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $181,490,000 after buying an additional 2,813,845 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Monday, January 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $62.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $63.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.22. The stock has a market cap of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.64, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.45.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.