Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $7.02 Million Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 138,879 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,544 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $7,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. lifted 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. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 106.2% during the third quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 75.9% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MP shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.08.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.6%

NYSE MP opened at $65.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -155.30 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $18.64 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.43.

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

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.