State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Holdings in The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company by 8.0%, selling 8,889 shares and currently holding 102,388 shares valued at approximately $2.77 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Mosaic include upgrades from Zacks Research and others, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.42.
• Mosaic reported a miss on EPS estimates for the last quarter with earnings of $0.51, falling short of the $0.71 expected, alongside revenues of $3.01 billion compared to a forecast of $3.11 billion.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,388 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,889 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Mosaic were worth $2,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Mosaic by 36.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 56,284 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 14,943 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mosaic by 1.3% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,172 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Mosaic during the first quarter valued at about $1,119,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Mosaic by 19.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,186 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 7,828 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Mosaic by 12.8% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 23,543 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,663 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mosaic news, SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 128,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,592,948.58. The trade was a 12.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Mosaic from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Mosaic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. CIBC lifted their target price on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mosaic has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.42.

Mosaic Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE MOS traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.30. 5,164,965 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,457,686. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. 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 $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.12.

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

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.