Old West Investment Management LLC Sells 16,481 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Old West Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,481 shares during the quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Up 8.5%

Shares of MP opened at $61.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of -86.41 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.80 and its 200-day moving average is $64.92. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $18.64 and a 12 month high of $100.25.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

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.