Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $62.00 price target on the natural resource company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $49.50. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FCX. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bernstein Bank increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $49.37 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $70.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.62 and a 200-day moving average of $44.56.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.