Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Sells 23,000 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 67.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 23,000 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FCX. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 308.9% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 31,124 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 23,512 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 74.0% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 1,740 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,660 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 36,242 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.29.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.18. 8,823,005 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,123,217. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.48 and a 200 day moving average of $47.88. The stock has a market cap of $69.21 billion, a PE ratio of 42.64, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

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.