Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,301,142 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 181,204 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $86,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $754,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $3,388,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 66,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $39.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.98. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.98 and a twelve month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on FCX. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

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.