Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Takes Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in MP Materials by 26.5% during 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 acquired a new position in MP Materials during the first quarter worth $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter worth $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 36.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 51,348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $68.43 on Friday. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $18.64 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -96.38 and a beta of 1.62.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.