Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,540 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,078 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,343 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $310,000. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 412,827 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $20,967,000 after acquiring an additional 126,229 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 73,602 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,738,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 117.5% in the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,346 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 15,312 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 24th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 9.1%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $63.37 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $72.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.