State of Michigan Retirement System Buys New Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

State of Michigan Retirement System bought a new position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,146,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in MP Materials by 181.3% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 4,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank increased its position in MP Materials by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.6%

MP stock opened at $60.69 on Thursday. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $18.64 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.96 and its 200-day moving average is $64.96. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -85.48 and a beta of 1.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. William Blair assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.