Korea Investment CORP Sells 1,356,381 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 50.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,350,231 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,356,381 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $51,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FCX. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 14.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,252 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 20,277 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $772,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on FCX. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE:FCX opened at $39.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.98 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.98.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

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.