LPL Financial LLC Sells 110,995 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its position in The Mosaic Company by 37.2%, selling 110,995 shares during the first quarter and now holds 187,212 shares valued at approximately $5.05 million.
• Mosaic's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $0.51, missing analysts' expectations of $0.71, while its revenue for the quarter was $3.01 billion compared to a consensus of $3.11 billion.
• Institutional investors now own 77.54% of Mosaic's stock, indicating a strong interest in the company from large financial entities, with several raising their stakes in the previous quarter.

LPL Financial LLC cut its position in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 37.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,212 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 110,995 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of Mosaic worth $5,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Mosaic by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,041,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $271,382,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151,426 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $127,119,000 after buying an additional 287,493 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,990,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $98,086,000 after buying an additional 711,300 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Mosaic by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,672,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,265,000 after buying an additional 921,924 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in Mosaic by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,187,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $78,347,000 after purchasing an additional 565,632 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of MOS opened at $32.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $38.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.95. The firm has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.12.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The firm's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $643,140.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares in the company, valued at $4,592,948.58. This trade represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MOS. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.42.

Mosaic 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.

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