Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $7.18 Million Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 19.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,895 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,818 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.48 on Wednesday, hitting $43.13. 11,931,018 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,936,384. The company has a market capitalization of $61.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $34.55 and a one year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 21.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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.