Banco Santander S.A. Acquires Shares of 83,380 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 83,380 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,175,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $36.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.36. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.26 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.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.