MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO Sells $17,492,742.00 in Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MP traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.98. 9,142,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,025,362. 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 market cap of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.70. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $18.64 and a twelve month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in MP Materials by 26.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after buying an additional 49,052 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 561.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 80,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 68,462 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter worth about $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.