Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 10,108 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 59,495 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 10,108 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th 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. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 214.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 849 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of FCX opened at $38.27 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.89 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.36 and a 200-day moving average of $43.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly 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 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.46.

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.