Prudential PLC Increases Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Prudential PLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 102.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,620 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 13,960 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 112.6% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 48,301 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,411,000 after buying an additional 25,581 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,863 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 41,404 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 7,615 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 613,353 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $30,619,000 after purchasing an additional 8,651 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.88.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 6.4 %

FCX traded up $2.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.36. 26,222,183 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,900,505. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.10 and a 200 day moving average of $41.06.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.26%.

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.