MP Materials Corp. $MP Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,565,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,214 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 2.56% of MP Materials worth $255,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% during 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 increased its position in MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MP. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MP opened at $56.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.82. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -165.47 and a beta of 1.88. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. MP Materials’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.