Insider Selling: MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO Sells 489,918 Shares of Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $13,115,104.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

MP Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MP Materials stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.80. The stock had a trading volume of 2,691,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,095,588. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.56. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $27.22. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.42 and a beta of 2.32.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.35.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 205.4% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 204.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.