Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Buys Shares of 1,051 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,051 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,436,455,000 after buying an additional 529,099 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after buying an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased 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 worth $857,305,000 after buying an additional 5,001,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687,982 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $39.99 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.98. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) 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 net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on FCX. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.04.

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.