Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 357,043 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,458,601 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 357,043 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $147,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 58,791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the period. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $174,000. Guidance Capital Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 13,544 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,360 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.54.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $49.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,591,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,642,123. The firm has a market cap of $71.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 2.04. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $52.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.08 and its 200-day moving average is $39.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.62%.

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.