Empirical Finance LLC Has $2.27 Million Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,495 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 10,108 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $38.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.36 and a 200-day moving average of $43.05. 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. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.89 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Scotiabank cut their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

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.