MML Investors Services LLC Sells 4,853 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

MML Investors Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS – Get Rating) by 38.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,853 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Mosaic were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter worth $33,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the third quarter worth $27,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the first quarter worth $44,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Mosaic during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 3,186.4% during the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. 85.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MOS shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Mosaic from $65.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.33.

Mosaic Stock Up 0.4 %

Mosaic stock opened at $54.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 5.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.20 and its 200-day moving average is $50.39. The Mosaic Company has a fifty-two week low of $40.29 and a fifty-two week high of $79.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The basic materials company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. Mosaic had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 18.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Mosaic Company will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Mosaic’s dividend payout ratio is 8.02%.

Mosaic Profile

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The Mosaic Co engages in the production and marketing of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company operates its businesses through its wholly and majority owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. The Phosphates segment owns and operates mines and production facilities in North America which produces concentrated phosphate crop nutrients and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients, and concentrated crop nutrients.