AJOVista LLC Invests $191,000 in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,496 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded up $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.45. The company had a trading volume of 14,498,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,456,276. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.65, a PEG ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $52.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. 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 business posted $0.52 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FCX. Raymond James upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 310,896 shares of company stock worth $15,811,399. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.