Granite Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 84.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 67,713 shares of the company’s stock after selling 377,624 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $4,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in MP Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 723,146 shares of company stock worth $45,767,276 over the last ninety days. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MP Materials Trading Up 0.8%

MP opened at $55.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $18.64 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.65 and its 200-day moving average is $64.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -78.59 and a beta of 1.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Two research analysts have 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

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.