Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Lowered to $66.00 at UBS Group

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its target price lowered by analysts at UBS Group from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.50% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FCX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of FCX stock traded up $0.82 on Friday, hitting $56.65. The stock had a trading volume of 4,667,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,887,695. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.39 and its 200-day moving average is $50.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,975,679.35. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918 in the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after buying an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $721,806,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192,955 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.