Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 188,781 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 20,729 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCX. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.09.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of FCX stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $35.83. The company had a trading volume of 6,481,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,808,008. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $36.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.77. The company has a market capitalization of $51.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 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.