Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Syntax Research Inc.

Syntax Research Inc. decreased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,246 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 20,392 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan comprises about 1.9% of Syntax Research Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Syntax Research Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $366,959,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,046,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054,537 shares during the last quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2,140.8% during the 1st quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 5,929,623 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $224,496,000 after acquiring an additional 5,665,000 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,421,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $830,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,642,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FCX. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Clarkson Capital reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.47.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $51.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.54.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

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.

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