Insider Selling: MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO Sells 115,349 Shares of Stock

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 115,349 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $7,540,364.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,090,616 shares in the company, valued at $790,363,567.92. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP traded down $2.26 on Friday, hitting $64.57. 5,062,831 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,944,660. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.52. The firm has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $19.60 and a one year high of $100.25. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% in 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% in the 1st 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. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.