AlphaQuest LLC Grows Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2,342.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,549 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,684 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $857,305,000 after buying an additional 5,001,531 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% during the 3rd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $36.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.26 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.36.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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.