Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Boosts Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 127,706 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,058 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,945,000 after purchasing an additional 73,297 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,245,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,988,000 after purchasing an additional 306,933 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,843,000 after buying an additional 144,661 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after acquiring an additional 294,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 13.3% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 505,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,923,000 after purchasing an additional 59,469 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.45.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP stock opened at $25.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.43 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.86 and its 200 day moving average is $18.88. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $26.00.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. Research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $9,273,214.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials 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.