Insider Selling: MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO Sells $11,540,254.44 in Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $11,540,254.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,205,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,974,500.45. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MP opened at $61.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.81 and a 200-day moving average of $59.37. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $18.64 and a one year high of $100.25. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of -146.07 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced 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. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $670,000. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $9,702,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $550,000. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,089,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in MP Materials by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,293,000 after purchasing an additional 11,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

More MP Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on MP Materials after its Q1 results: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $70 from $62 and kept an Overweight rating, while Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $70 from $65 and reiterated a Buy rating. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: MP Materials continues to benefit from strong fundamental execution, including a Q1 earnings beat and 49.1% year-over-year revenue growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term rare-earth growth story. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

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.