FIL Ltd Purchases 1,501,277 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

FIL Ltd raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 153.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,477,217 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 1,501,277 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $94,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after acquiring an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $754,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $3,388,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 66,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after acquiring an additional 18,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 15.7 %

FCX opened at $33.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.25 and its 200-day moving average is $41.28. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $48.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.65.

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.