Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 23,500 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lowered its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,600 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 23,500 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of FCX stock opened at $38.91 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.15. The company has a market cap of $55.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.