Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,553,660 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 88,121 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $108,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 122.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.15.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE FCX opened at $48.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.14. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $52.42. The firm has a market cap of $68.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 23.62%.

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.