ING Groep NV Sells 273,931 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

ING Groep NV lessened its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 395,366 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 273,931 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $19,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James upped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.3 %

FCX stock opened at $43.26 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.58 and its 200 day moving average is $47.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $62.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.91. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.29 and a 1-year high of $55.24.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.