Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 83.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 126,274 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $721,806,000 after buying an additional 7,192,955 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,489,069,000 after buying an additional 7,044,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,498,267 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $675,896,000 after buying an additional 5,784,156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FCX. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $79.91 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $79.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.66. The firm has a market cap of $114.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 14.78%.

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.