Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $54.00 price target on the natural resource company's stock, up from their prior price target of $45.00.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on FCX. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.71.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.50. The company had a trading volume of 11,010,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,830,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.66. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61. The company has a market capitalization of $63.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $20,565,000 after acquiring an additional 115,552 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 299,677 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $11,412,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 565,983 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 82,047 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 36,405 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 3,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

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.