Allianz Asset Management GmbH Buys Shares of 136,788 MP Materials Corp. $MP

Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 136,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,174,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MP. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 132.7% in 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. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $670,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $550,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $1,089,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Trading Up 8.5%

NYSE MP opened at $61.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.41 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $18.64 and a 12 month high of $100.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MP. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. William Blair initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.