Oak Thistle LLC Buys Shares of 27,556 MP Materials Corp. $MP

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 27,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,543,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 585,167 shares of company stock valued at $39,028,272. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MP Materials Price Performance

NYSE MP opened at $53.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $37.81 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The company has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of -158.44 and a beta of 1.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.19.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MP shares. Wedbush lifted their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

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.