Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Target Raised at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised Freeport-McMoRan’s price target from $70 to $87 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying about 20% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $74.67; recent targets from Barclays and Scotiabank were also increased.
• Freeport-McMoRan exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.74 in EPS versus $0.62 expected and $7.03 billion in revenue, while insiders sold more than $8.3 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $87.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the natural resource company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.01% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.67.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $72.49 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $70.95 and its 200 day moving average is $65.66. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $38.54 and a fifty-two week high of $80.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $104.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total transaction of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 211,016 shares in the company, valued at $16,577,416.96. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ellie Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271 in the last ninety days. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 11.6% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,539 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Essex Bank boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc NYSE: FCX is a leading international mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.

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