Congress Asset Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 46.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,781 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 20,117 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,880,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $20,565,000 after buying an additional 115,552 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,819 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 2,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $39.27 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $56.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.77 and a 200 day moving average of $42.79. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.89 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

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.