BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires Shares of 954,257 MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 954,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,886,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.58% of MP Materials as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 44.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,986,000 after buying an additional 2,005,505 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,284,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,019,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,330,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 294,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,454,498.08. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 943,792 shares of company stock worth $25,286,567 in the last three months. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.88. 10,119,797 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,718,234. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $10.02 and a 52 week high of $29.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -35.39 and a beta of 2.24.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. The company's revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

About MP Materials

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.