Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by Argyle Capital Management LLC

Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,566 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the third 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 buying an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $410,494,000 after purchasing an additional 127,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.6 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $37.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.62. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.89 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.