Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Stake Trimmed by Buffington Mohr McNeal

Buffington Mohr McNeal cut its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,652 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 4,979 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $162,964,000 after buying an additional 2,515,103 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $139,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.0 %

FCX stock opened at $36.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.26 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $52.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.67 and a 200-day moving average of $43.74.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.