Alphasimplex Group LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,060 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $1,352,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 272,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $10,124,000 after buying an additional 24,650 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 114,973 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,798,000 after purchasing an additional 9,113 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 16,252 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 7,571 shares during the period. 77.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 14th. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan to $34.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 13th. Clarkson Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Tuesday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.00.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis acquired 3,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.79 per share, with a total value of $86,370.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 13,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $397,302. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.79 per share, with a total value of $86,370.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $397,302. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dustan E. Mccoy sold 8,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total transaction of $321,768.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,856. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX traded up $1.03 on Thursday, hitting $32.43. 482,073 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,920,798. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $31.62 and its 200 day moving average is $39.38. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.80 and a fifty-two week high of $51.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 2.01.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 21st. The natural resource company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.31). The business had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 22.04%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.12%.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals, as well as oil and gas. Its assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Tyrone and Chino in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.

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