Matthews International Capital Management LLC Sells 18,299 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Matthews International Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 64.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,963 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 18,299 shares during the period. Matthews International Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 14,215 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 6,773 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 201,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 34,228 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 66,936 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 20,002 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 136,799 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,209,000 after purchasing an additional 14,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $734,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.0 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $36.67 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.26 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $52.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

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.