Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 229,743 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 79,795 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $8,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,692,191,000 after purchasing an additional 642,776 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,122,922,000 after acquiring an additional 688,240 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,123,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,926 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $857,305,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,531 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,273,162 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $619,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488,210 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FCX. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.25.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 15.7 %

NYSE:FCX traded up $4.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,559,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,809,468. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $37.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.28. 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 stock has a market cap of $48.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

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.