Sage Investment Counsel LLC Buys Shares of 8,635 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,635 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,436,455,000 after purchasing an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $410,494,000 after acquiring an additional 127,251 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $36.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.59. 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 $53.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

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 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%. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.04.

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.