BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $25.22 Million Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 78.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 499,280 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,779,346 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in MP Materials were worth $25,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MP. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 75.9% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 106.2% in the third quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.5%

NYSE MP opened at $65.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.76. The company has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of -155.81 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $23.26 and a 12 month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock worth $69,329,207. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About MP Materials

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.