MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 9.6% Following Insider Selling

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 9.6% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $58.65 and last traded at $59.2020. Approximately 7,946,600 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 7,014,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.46.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Trading Down 9.6%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.75. The company has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.96 and a beta of 1.86. 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 announced its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.