Flputnam Investment Management Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,460 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 7,666 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,299,631 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $49,490,000 after buying an additional 50,109 shares during the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 27,566 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares during the period. Peloton Wealth Strategists purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $1,145,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 360.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 238,311 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $9,075,000 after acquiring an additional 186,554 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 218,901 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,336,000 after purchasing an additional 13,604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $36.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.89 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

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.