Sowell Financial Services LLC Grows Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 50.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,752 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,628 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $754,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 66,699 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after acquiring an additional 18,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,206.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 13,055 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 12,056 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FCX. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 6.7 %

FCX opened at $34.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.28. The company has a market capitalization of $49.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.98 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

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

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.