Wesbanco Bank Inc. Has $203,000 Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,321 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $37.78 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.95.

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 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.