Paloma Partners Management Co Buys 429,000 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 233.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 613,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 429,000 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for 1.0% of Paloma Partners Management Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Paloma Partners Management Co's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $23,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ion Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 141,520 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $5,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 127.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 792,901 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $30,194,000 after buying an additional 444,763 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,774,084 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $105,637,000 after acquiring an additional 24,704 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,441,112 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $626,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,239.2% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,209 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.09.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.63. The stock had a trading volume of 11,931,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,749,605. 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 capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company's 50-day moving average is $36.18 and its 200 day moving average is $39.66. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is 24.79%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.