Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,544,743 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 197,375 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $128,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 168.4% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,908 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its position in MP Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in MP Materials by 1,320.8% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 887,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $35,858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MP shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given 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 $80.14.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock worth $69,329,207. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $65.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -155.81 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $23.26 and a twelve month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

MP Materials 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.