Sage Investment Counsel LLC Buys Shares of 8,635 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,635 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCX. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $1,436,455,000 after purchasing an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in 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 raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the third 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. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $36.16. 8,142,091 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,362,394. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.89 and a 1-year 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $38.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.60. The company has a market cap of $51.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted 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, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.