MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO Sells $1,753,874.00 in Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 27,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $1,753,874.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,078,565 shares in the company, valued at $837,158,945.65. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:MP opened at $61.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.07. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $18.64 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MP. BMO Capital Markets raised MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 132.7% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100,915 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter worth $241,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter worth $168,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter valued at $1,206,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.