MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 2.4% After Insider Selling

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price fell 2.4% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $57.33 and last traded at $57.7660. 5,076,841 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 6,997,703 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.18.

Specifically, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MP shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -137.54 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.77.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.