Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $82,000 Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 74.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 740 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $82,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,369,409 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,451,285,000 after buying an additional 305,912 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,752,726 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,543,676,000 after purchasing an additional 419,603 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,371,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,451 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 16,647,339 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $708,677,000 after purchasing an additional 595,395 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,758,947 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $458,008,000 after purchasing an additional 592,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $50.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.58, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.96. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.86. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $187,438,509.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,438,509.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.50 to $62.00 in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.