Trexquant Investment LP Decreases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Trexquant Investment LP lowered its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 229,743 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 79,795 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $8,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 22,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 20,277 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 36,514 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 12.4 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $33.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.72 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS 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 anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 23.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.