Meyer Handelman Co. Sells 5,176 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Meyer Handelman Co. trimmed its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 355,380 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 5,176 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $13,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $99,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,319,066 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $64,107,000 after acquiring an additional 73,340 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.3% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 16,265 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $619,000. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.1% in the second quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,367 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $39.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $55.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on FCX shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.96.

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.