MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.5% on Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $63.40 and last traded at $63.6940. Approximately 9,902,579 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 9,580,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.34.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 27,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $1,753,874.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 13,078,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $837,158,945.65. The trade was a 0.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MP. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. William Blair began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -97.39 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $57.94 and its 200-day moving average is $62.54.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the second quarter worth $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 168.7% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in MP Materials by 181.3% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.