Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 142.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 2,515,103 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.30% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $162,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 194.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,042 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.9 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,122,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,665,558. The stock's fifty day moving average is $41.67 and its 200 day moving average is $44.46. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

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.