Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 2,536.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,861 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MP Materials by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,314,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,956,000 after acquiring an additional 860,960 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,484,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 151.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 815,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,382,000 after purchasing an additional 490,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regal Partners Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 275.4% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 464,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,907,000 after purchasing an additional 340,426 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MP opened at $16.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.76 and a beta of 2.22. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $20.85.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.08). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 21.94% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The company had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 EPS for the current year.

MP Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MP. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 price objective for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.11.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.84 per share, for a total transaction of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.