Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 21,901 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 57.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,554 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,901 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $2,451,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,580,000 after buying an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,482,000. Finally, Myriad Asset Management Advisors LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,229,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were 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 $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 585,167 shares of company stock valued at $39,028,272. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MP. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MP opened at $53.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -158.44 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.19. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $37.81 and a twelve month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.MP Materials’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS 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.