Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 2,128 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,037 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during 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 last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 71,758 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,646 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 22,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of FCX opened at $36.97 on Friday. 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 $34.26 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.10 and its 200-day moving average is $42.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.