Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,621,704 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 414,140 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.18% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $111,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 61,118 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $238,000. Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 208,528 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,877,000 after acquiring an additional 17,034 shares during the period. Finally, Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. HSBC increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of FCX stock traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.68. 5,566,925 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,017,508. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.51. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $52.52. The company has a market cap of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.38, a P/E/G ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.