Soros Fund Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 200,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,984,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after acquiring an additional 85,542 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,604,000 after buying an additional 12,887 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 432,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $21,572,000 after buying an additional 107,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 202,440 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $10,393,000 after acquiring an additional 35,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.7 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $42.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.04 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a market cap of $61.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a P/E/G ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

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.