Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 38,786 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,109,519 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 38,786 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $89,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE FCX traded up $1.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.50. The stock had a trading volume of 19,037,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,097,275. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a P/E/G ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 2.04. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $52.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.38.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.07.

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.