Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,732,045 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 223,960 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.54% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $329,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 15,832 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $344,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 111,194 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $262,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX traded down $1.81 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,265,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,221,130. The stock has a market cap of $71.12 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $52.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 365,667 shares of company stock valued at $18,592,670 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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 objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.