Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. reduced its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 810,091 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 116,557 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $30,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,436,455,000 after purchasing an additional 529,099 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $410,494,000 after acquiring an additional 127,251 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $36.97 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.89 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.72.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 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. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.