The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Shares Sold by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lessened its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 62.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 61,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 103,839 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Mosaic by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 298,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,330,000 after buying an additional 23,855 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Mosaic by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 417,823 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 502,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,636,000 after acquiring an additional 70,898 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Mosaic during the fourth quarter worth about $949,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Mosaic by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 67,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 7,778 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.73, for a total transaction of $643,140.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MOS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Mosaic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Mosaic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Five equities research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MOS opened at $36.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.33. The Mosaic Company has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $38.23. The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.12.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 4.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Company Profile

The Mosaic Company, through its subsidiaries, produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It owns and operates mines, which produce concentrated phosphate crop nutrients, such as diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and ammoniated phosphate products; and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients primarily under the Biofos and Nexfos brand names, as well as produces a double sulfate of potash magnesia product under K-Mag brand name.