Insider Selling: The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) SVP Sells 18,000 Shares of Stock

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) SVP Walter F. Precourt III sold 18,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Mosaic Stock Performance

MOS traded down $1.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,022,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,748,360. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company's fifty day moving average price is $30.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.65. The Mosaic Company has a 52-week low of $22.36 and a 52-week high of $37.69. The company has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 3.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Mosaic's payout ratio is currently 75.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Mosaic to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Mosaic in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mosaic from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Six 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mosaic by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 24,281 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mosaic by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,368,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $82,800,000 after purchasing an additional 150,186 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mosaic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,054,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Mosaic by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,682 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mosaic by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 122,893 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,933,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. 77.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.