64,926 Shares in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Purchased by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 64,926 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semanteon Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 114.8% during the fourth quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 33,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 17,967 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 20,277 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 10,578 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,770 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the period. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $406,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $40.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.98 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.