Legal & General Group Plc Sells 31,470 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 331,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,470 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.20% of MP Materials worth $5,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in MP Materials by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 205.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 204.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,799,924. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $9,273,214.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,330,015 shares of company stock valued at $34,559,781 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MP. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. DA Davidson increased their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $26.24 on Monday. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $10.02 and a 1 year high of $29.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of -44.47 and a beta of 2.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MP Materials

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.