MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 2.5% on Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares dropped 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $53.22 and last traded at $55.28. Approximately 11,041,710 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 10,932,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.68.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 248,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total value of $15,863,526.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,369,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,786,806.90. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total transaction of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,812 shares in the company, valued at $11,244,548.64. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.82.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of -77.86 and a beta of 2.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.73. The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 132.7% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 100,915 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $168,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth $687,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,479,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.