James Litinsky Sells 272,600 Shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

MP Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MP traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.98. The stock had a trading volume of 9,142,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,025,362. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $18.64 and a 12 month high of $100.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.70.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.MP Materials’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa America upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in MP Materials by 168.7% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 181.3% in the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.