Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 642,776 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 642,776 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.58% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $4,692,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $41.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.97. The stock has a market cap of $59.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $33.98 and a one year high of $55.24. 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 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 return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. On average, analysts predict 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.