Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Takes $233,000 Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,483 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6,469.2% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 854 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $1.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.50. 19,037,059 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,097,275. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $52.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.67, a P/E/G ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. Argus lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.07.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.