Soros Fund Management LLC Invests $9.98 Million in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 200,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $9,984,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth $25,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 261.3% in the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.18. The stock had a trading volume of 3,672,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,802,147. The business's fifty day moving average price is $46.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.62. The firm has a market cap of $60.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.04 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

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.