Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Raised to $81.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $68.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.59% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FCX. Wall Street Zen cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Clarkson Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX traded down $0.65 on Thursday, reaching $67.73. 954,873 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,328,193. The firm has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.33. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 603,140 shares of company stock worth $37,660,139. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,619,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,769 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,244,504,000 after buying an additional 622,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,873,136 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,193,327,000 after buying an additional 395,226 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.