Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was in 56 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of Q1. FCX investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. There were 68 hedge funds in our database with FCX positions at the end of the previous quarter.
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX).
Hedge fund activity in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX)
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 56 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -18% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Senator Investment Group, managed by Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin, holds the most valuable position in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX). Senator Investment Group has a $331 million call position in the stock, comprising 3.9% of its 13F portfolio. On Senator Investment Group’s heels is Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, which held a $297.9 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
Since Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there exists a select few money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Tony Chedraoui’s Tyrus Capital sold off the largest stake of all the hedgies we track, worth close to $85.4 million in stock., and Jean-Marie Eveillard of First Eagle Investment Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $68.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 12 funds in Q1.
How are insiders trading Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX). These stocks are Lihua International Inc (NASDAQ:LIWA), Augusta Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEAMEX:AZC), Sterlite Industries India Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SLT), , and Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO). All of these stocks are in the copper industry and their market caps are similar to FCX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Lihua International Inc (NASDAQ:LIWA) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Augusta Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEAMEX:AZC) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sterlite Industries India Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SLT) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) | 19 | 0 | 2 |
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
