Carson Advisory Inc. Has $245,000 Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,214 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Catalina Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth $266,000. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $213,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $12,564,000. Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.9% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 336,439 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,819,000 after purchasing an additional 2,925 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,410.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.6 %

FCX traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.60. The company had a trading volume of 9,193,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,810,405. The company has a market capitalization of $74.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.66, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.62. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business 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 for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The sale 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 stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. HSBC lifted 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. Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

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.