MP Materials Corp. $MP Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 49.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 298,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 297,653 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $20,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4,600.0% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 500.0% during the third quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 28.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were 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 $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock valued at $62,785,202. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $61.35 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.41 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $18.64 and a 52-week high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

About MP Materials

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.