MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky Sells 50,000 Shares

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 50,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $3,229,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,429,219.70. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $64.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.52. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $19.60 and a one year high of $100.25. 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 (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% in the third quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.