Cumberland Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Cumberland Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,350 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up approximately 1.4% of Cumberland Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Cumberland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares during the period. 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 valued at $7,375,000 after buying an additional 85,542 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during 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 during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:FCX traded up $1.03 on Wednesday, reaching $39.77. 15,583,920 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,623,746. The company has a market capitalization of $57.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.81.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on FCX shares. Raymond James upped their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.96.

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.