Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 113,317 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 55,033 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 7.2% of Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Oaktree Fund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during 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 during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $754,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $3,388,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after acquiring an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $38.36 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 firm has a market cap of $55.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.97. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.98 and a fifty-two week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 23.26%.

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.