Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank cut its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,149 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,066 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $46.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.91. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.58.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

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.