Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Sells 12,557 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 811,301 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 12,557 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan comprises 2.8% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC owned 0.06% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $30,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after acquiring an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 71,883 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $39.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.89 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. On average, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

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.