MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3% After Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 3% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $57.51 and last traded at $57.5430. Approximately 3,478,358 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 7,698,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.30.

Specifically, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of -110.66 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.66 and its 200 day moving average is $63.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a current ratio of 7.24.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in MP Materials by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.