Traders Purchase High Volume of Freeport-McMoRan Call Options (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 92,303 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 48% compared to the typical volume of 62,442 call options.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $48.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.41 billion, a PE ratio of 42.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.33.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FCX. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 64,053 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,012,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,083 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.