Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 237,312 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 717,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 237,312 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.40% of MP Materials worth $36,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd raised its stake in MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MP Materials by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,020,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,360,000 after acquiring an additional 363,975 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in MP Materials by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,705,000 after buying an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in MP Materials by 19,314.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,987,000 after buying an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MP. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MP Materials Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE MP opened at $56.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $18.64 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.69 and a 200-day moving average of $61.07. The company has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.48 and a beta of 1.67.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.MP Materials’s revenue was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, 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 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.