Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $898,000 Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,091 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 7,297 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $282,000. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 42,003 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after acquiring an additional 4,628 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,835 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.42. 2,612,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,874,464. The company has a market cap of $73.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.65 and its 200 day moving average is $45.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased 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. Argus increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.93.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total value 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 $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.