Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by United Bank

United Bank reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,287 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,346 shares during the period. United Bank’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,427,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,143,562 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $417,752,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $712,600,000 after buying an additional 4,396,309 shares in the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $162,464,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 4.6 %

FCX opened at $46.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $55.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.91.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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.