Axa S.A. Raises Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

AXA S.A. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 375.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 165,803 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 130,914 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $6,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FCX. StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.09.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $37.47. The company had a trading volume of 9,812,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,695,224. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.38. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $53.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.