New England Research & Management Inc. Makes New $263,000 Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,594 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 16,891 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,656,836 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,369,312,000 after purchasing an additional 976,592 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 2,917,913 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $124,216,000 after purchasing an additional 211,608 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 345,917 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $14,726,000 after purchasing an additional 20,894 shares during the period. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 647,691 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $27,572,000 after purchasing an additional 240,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $48.60 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.