Financial Insights Inc. Lowers Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Financial Insights Inc. lessened its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 30.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,353 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 2,290 shares during the quarter. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,427,583,000 after buying an additional 13,143,562 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth $417,752,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $712,600,000 after buying an additional 4,396,309 shares in the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $162,464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE FCX opened at $48.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.71 billion, a PE ratio of 42.95, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.74 and its 200 day moving average is $47.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.92.

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.