Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 459,213 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 459,213 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of MP Materials worth $731,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MP. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $670,000. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,702,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $550,000. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,089,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in MP Materials by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,293,000 after acquiring an additional 11,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $66.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a current ratio of 7.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of -128.16 and a beta of 1.90. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $18.64 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.96.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $52.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.08.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 346,000 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,816 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.20% 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.