MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 4.5% Following Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 4.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $26.28 and last traded at $26.33. Approximately 2,736,275 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 4,175,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.58.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,643,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,454,498.08. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.47 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.13.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. Research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 119,900.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter worth $79,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company 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.