Investors Buy Large Volume of MP Materials Call Options (NYSE:MP)

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 5,089 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 12% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,541 call options.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $9,273,214.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 12.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JT Stratford LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 63,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MP Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, SWS Partners grew its position in MP Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 162,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.45.

MP Materials Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:MP traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $24.99. 1,117,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,129,699. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.32 and a beta of 2.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.88. MP Materials has a 52-week low of $10.02 and a 52-week high of $26.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The firm had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. As a group, analysts predict that MP Materials will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.