Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Reduces Holdings in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 45.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,027 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MP. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the second quarter worth about $132,238,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,033,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,928,000 after purchasing an additional 378,510 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in MP Materials by 19,314.3% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 2.0% in the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,196,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,821,000 after purchasing an additional 23,888 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $58.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of -81.69 and a beta of 1.60. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $18.64 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $24,231,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock valued at $62,785,202. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MP Materials Company 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.