LPL Financial LLC Buys 162,933 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,776,932 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 162,933 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $67,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 22,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,252 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 20,277 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $41.48 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.99. 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 market capitalization of $59.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $33.98 and a one year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (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 research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FCX. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.04.

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.