Investors Purchase High Volume of Freeport-McMoRan Call Options (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 165,892 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 193% compared to the typical daily volume of 56,631 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $40.72 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.99. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $33.98 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $58.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results 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, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 240.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 80,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,994,000 after acquiring an additional 56,475 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 6,018 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,497 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 9,648 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,016,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 228,860 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $11,425,000 after buying an additional 9,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.