KBC Group NV Sells 337,302 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 70.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,452 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 337,302 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $5,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% in the third 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 during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth about $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $36.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.46 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

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 return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

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.