Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 193,280 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 6,537 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $37.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $53.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.79. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.09.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.