Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 79,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,234,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,945,000 after purchasing an additional 73,297 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,843,000 after purchasing an additional 144,661 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 294,806 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 505,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,923,000 after purchasing an additional 59,469 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 462,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,161,000 after purchasing an additional 19,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,799,924. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,112,316 shares of company stock worth $28,665,974. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MP. DA Davidson lifted their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP opened at $25.81 on Monday. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $10.02 and a 52-week high of $27.29. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.75 and a beta of 2.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.36 and a 200 day moving average of $19.78. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its 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 return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The firm had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

MP Materials Profile

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.