California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,276,626 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 149,460 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $86,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $37.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.95. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.98 and a 12 month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.