Choate Investment Advisors Increases Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Choate Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,235 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $38.91 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 company has a market cap of $55.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.07. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.98 and a 1-year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FCX. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank reduced their price target 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, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.