MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 4.5% After Insider Selling

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were down 4.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $26.28 and last traded at $26.33. Approximately 2,736,275 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 4,175,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.58.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,643,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,454,498.08. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MP. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.5 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.07. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.68 and a beta of 2.24.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in MP Materials by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,986,000 after buying an additional 2,005,505 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,945,000 after acquiring an additional 73,297 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in MP Materials by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,207,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,433,000 after purchasing an additional 176,121 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,118,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,050,000 after purchasing an additional 7,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,843,000 after purchasing an additional 144,661 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.