Byrne Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Byrne Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,325 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $162,964,000 after buying an additional 2,515,103 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $139,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.0 %

FCX opened at $38.27 on Friday. The stock 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $34.89 and a one year high of $55.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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 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%. Analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.