Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Buys 20,002 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,936 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 20,002 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.0 %

FCX opened at $37.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $53.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.81 and a 200-day moving average of $43.85. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $55.24. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.