Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 786,530 Shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) by 80.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 196,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 786,530 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Mosaic worth $4,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MOS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mosaic by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,351,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $228,018,000 after buying an additional 178,844 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mosaic by 4.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 150,186 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Mosaic by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,279,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,817,000 after acquiring an additional 947,500 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in Mosaic by 13.9% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,939,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,717,000 after purchasing an additional 359,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Mosaic by 190.8% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,593,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,812 shares during the period. 77.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mosaic Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $25.91 on Friday. The Mosaic Company has a 1 year low of $22.48 and a 1 year high of $33.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average is $26.19.

Mosaic Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Mosaic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Mosaic’s payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MOS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Mosaic from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Mosaic from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Mosaic from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mosaic from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.64.

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.