Korea Investment CORP Cuts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Korea Investment CORP lowered its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,350,231 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 1,356,381 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.09% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $51,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.04.

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Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.09. The company had a trading volume of 13,112,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,439,948. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.98 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.