Freeport-McMoRan Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 76,129 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average daily volume of 52,108 call options.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $38.27 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $34.89 and a 52-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 company has a market capitalization of $54.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.07.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.