Freeport-McMoRan Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 83,681 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 51,110 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after acquiring an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after buying an additional 85,542 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 71,883 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX traded down $0.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $38.54. 22,105,160 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,491,560. The company has a market capitalization of $55.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $36.26 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

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.