Fmr LLC Sells 14,551,828 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Fmr LLC decreased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 50,227,374 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 14,551,828 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,507,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCX. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after acquiring an additional 85,542 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after buying an additional 12,887 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.3% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 432,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $21,572,000 after buying an additional 107,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 202,440 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $10,393,000 after acquiring an additional 35,972 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.6 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $44.40 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.90 and its 200 day moving average is $47.05. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.04 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $63.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 21.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Six investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

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.