MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded up 3.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.50 and last traded at $60.3520. 4,672,915 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 8,193,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MP shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of -116.06 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 6.67, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 338,146 shares of company stock valued at $21,535,376 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 132.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 100,915 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $670,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth $550,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the third quarter worth $1,089,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently 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.