Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 613,353 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,651 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $30,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 261.3% in the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. UBS Group upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.92.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE FCX opened at $42.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month 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.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

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.