Scientech Research LLC Buys New Shares in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 38,479 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $1,465,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $857,305,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,531 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,273,162 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $619,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,123,445,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $38.37. 7,847,963 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,588,529. The stock's fifty day moving average is $36.56 and its 200 day moving average is $38.81. The stock has a market cap of $55.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65. 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 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $54.95.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.36.

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.