Natixis Buys 110,610 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Natixis raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 53.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 318,680 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 110,610 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $12,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norinchukin Bank The grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 68,624 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,613,000 after buying an additional 7,453 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 22,566.4% during the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 894,190 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $34,051,000 after acquiring an additional 890,245 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 128,787 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $916,037,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covalis Capital LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,036,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.39.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX traded up $1.10 on Wednesday, reaching $35.16. 21,635,900 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,882,649. The stock has a market cap of $50.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.18.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

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.