Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 83,418 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 6.9%, selling 83,418 shares and now owning 1,121,587 shares valued at approximately $30.3 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Mosaic, with price targets ranging from a decrease to $34.00 by Wells Fargo to an increase to $46.00 by Barclays, reflecting various ratings including "buy" and "sector outperform."
• Mosaic reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51 for the last quarter, which was below the consensus estimate of $0.71, with total revenue at $3.01 billion against a forecast of $3.11 billion.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,121,587 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 83,418 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.35% of Mosaic worth $30,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MOS. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 102.3% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mosaic during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Mosaic by 132.7% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mosaic in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mosaic

In other news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,592,948.58. This represents a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Mosaic Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MOS opened at $32.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.01. 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.

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

About Mosaic

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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