Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $28.16 Million Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 739,437 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,651 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.05% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $28,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 383,486 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $14,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,860 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 96,385 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,670,000 after acquiring an additional 25,869 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $431,000. DRW Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 15,469 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 63,659 shares during the period. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 88,806 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.6 %

FCX traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.90. The stock had a trading volume of 8,375,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,894,277. 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 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $36.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FCX. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.39.

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.