Insider Buying: MP Materials (NYSE:MP) COO Acquires 17,000 Shares of Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

MP Materials Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE MP traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.29. The stock had a trading volume of 7,734,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,652,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $18.64 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.14. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.01 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in MP Materials by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 49,052 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MP shares. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, TD Securities upgraded 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, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.