BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $25.22 Million Holdings in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets sharply reduced its MP Materials stake by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 499,280 shares valued at about $25.2 million.
• MP Materials reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.03 versus a consensus loss and revenue of $90.65 million, up 49.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on the stock, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $80.14, while insiders have recently shown mixed activity with both buying and selling.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its holdings in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 499,280 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,779,346 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.28% of MP Materials worth $25,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MP. Norges Bank bought a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,531,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 168.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company's stock worth $173,705,000 after buying an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its position in MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company's stock worth $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company's stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 887,148 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,858,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP stock opened at $65.44 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The firm has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -155.81 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $23.26 and a one year high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $80.14.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,066,000 shares of company stock valued at $69,329,207 in the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MP Materials Company 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.

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