Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 153.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,477,217 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,501,277 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.17% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $94,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.65.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $33.80 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.28. The firm has a market cap of $48.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 23.26%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.