Panagora Asset Management Inc. Purchases 810,537 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,870,856 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 810,537 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $145,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Perryman Financial Advisory Inc. AD purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,000. Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 313,600 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,928,000 after buying an additional 64,513 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 540,420 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $27,466,000 after buying an additional 184,598 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,461 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 5,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $68.28 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $72.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $64.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.18.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.86.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.