MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3.4% on Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 3.4% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $63.59 and last traded at $64.5730. Approximately 4,997,309 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 7,032,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.83.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 50,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $3,229,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,429,219.70. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,855,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 115,349 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $7,540,364.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,090,616 shares in the company, valued at $790,363,567.92. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MP. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.08.

MP Materials Stock Down 3.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $1,227,000. South Dakota Investment Council purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,617,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 84.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 118,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,931,000 after buying an additional 54,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,505,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.