Jennison Associates LLC Raises Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 312,201 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 64,350 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FCX. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after acquiring an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.3% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 432,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $21,572,000 after purchasing an additional 107,852 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 202,440 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $10,393,000 after acquiring an additional 35,972 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of FCX stock opened at $43.72 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $36.04 and a one year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.20. The stock has a market cap of $62.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.91.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan 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.