Next Century Growth Investors LLC Sells 71,766 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Next Century Growth Investors LLC cut its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71,766 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned about 0.07% of MP Materials worth $6,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 887,148 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,251,167 shares of company stock valued at $82,131,654 over the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MP Materials Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:MP opened at $57.70 on Monday. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $28.35 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.48 and a 200 day moving average of $59.68. The firm has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of -137.37 and a beta of 1.86. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials 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.