10,740 Shares in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Purchased by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 10,740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $26,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $47.92 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.