Private Portfolio Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,341 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,692,191,000 after purchasing an additional 642,776 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,122,922,000 after buying an additional 688,240 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,123,445,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,926 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $857,305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,273,162 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $619,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488,210 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $38.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.05 and a 200-day moving average of $41.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.98 and a 12-month high of $55.24. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.04.

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.