Insider Selling: MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO Sells 122,812 Shares of Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 122,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.90, for a total value of $8,093,310.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,383,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $816,049,782.70. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP traded down $3.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.42. The stock had a trading volume of 9,869,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,562,317. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $18.64 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.36. The stock has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of -143.86 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 49,052 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Wedbush raised their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

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.