MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 4.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded down 4.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $56.64 and last traded at $57.1890. 5,435,911 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 7,919,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MP shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of -109.98 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 6.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of MP Materials 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 directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in MP Materials by 132.7% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,888,000 after buying an additional 100,915 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $670,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $550,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,089,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.