Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Stock Hits Record High as Insiders Cash Out

TLDR

• FCX hit an all-time high of $69.77, up over 111% in the past year.
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy and a $70 price target; JPMorgan raised its target to $76; Bank of America raised to $81.
• Institutional ownership stands at ~80.8%, with major position increases from Wellington Management, Voya, and AQR Capital.
• Insiders have been selling heavily — including Chairman Richard Adkerson, who offloaded ~248,000 shares worth ~$15.6M in February.
• FCX reported Q4 EPS of $0.47, beating the $0.28 consensus estimate, with revenue of $5.63 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) has been on a tear. The copper mining giant hit an all-time high of $69.77 on Thursday, capping a 12-month run that has seen the stock more than double — up 111.64% from its 52-week low of $32.12.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc., FCX

The stock opened Friday at $68.30 and carries a market cap of $98.16 billion. It trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.23, well above many of its peers, and has a beta of 1.48 — meaning it tends to move sharper than the broader market.

Rising copper prices have been the main engine behind the rally. Global demand has stayed strong, and FCX is one of the largest copper producers in the world, giving it direct exposure to those price moves.

In Q4, the company beat Wall Street’s earnings forecast by a wide margin. FCX reported EPS of $0.47, versus the $0.28 consensus estimate — a beat of $0.19 per share. Revenue came in at $5.63 billion, topping estimates of $5.42 billion.

Analysts expect full-year EPS of $1.68 for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Raises Targets

Several major banks have recently raised their price targets on FCX. JPMorgan lifted its target from $68 to $76 earlier this month, assigning the stock an “overweight” rating. Bank of America pushed its target to $81 in late February, with a “buy” rating. Raymond James went from $53 to $66 with an “outperform.”

Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $70 price target. Jefferies maintained its Buy with a $76 target, pointing to the Grasberg mine in Indonesia as a key driver of financial performance.

The consensus analyst rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $66.26 — now below where the stock is currently trading.

One notable exception: Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded FCX from “outperform” to “market perform” in January, raising its target slightly to $54.

Insider Selling Picks Up

Despite the bullish analyst sentiment, insiders have been selling. In the past 90 days, insiders offloaded 565,145 shares worth approximately $35.8 million.

Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares on February 10th at an average price of $62.80, for a total of about $15.6 million. That represented a 6.6% reduction in his position.

EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares the following day at $64.52, a 25.49% cut to his stake.

Institutional ownership remains high at around 80.8%. Wellington Management more than doubled its position in Q3, picking up an additional 23.9 million shares to bring its total to 36.5 million. Voya Investment Management raised its stake by 289%.

Oxinas Partners LLC added a fresh position in Q4, buying 21,670 shares worth about $1.1 million.

On the macro side, President Trump’s tariff proclamation — imposing a flat 50% rate on imported steel, aluminum, and copper — could affect FCX’s operations going forward, though the full impact remains unclear.

FCX pays a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, annualized at $0.30, for a yield of roughly 0.4%. The next dividend is payable May 1st to shareholders of record as of April 15th.

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