MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $58.98 and last traded at $61.14. Approximately 5,772,089 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 10,749,169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.09.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Daiwa America raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of -84.30 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.67.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. Research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

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

MP Materials Company Profile

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.