Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 647,971 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 12,099 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $24,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of FCX opened at $39.99 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $33.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.98. The firm has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, equities research 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 Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

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.