California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 256,959 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,729 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.14% of MP Materials worth $12,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MP. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company's stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company's stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in MP Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $79.42.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837 over the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MP Materials Trading Down 7.6%

MP Materials stock opened at $41.26 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $56.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -98.25 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $41.12 and a 52 week high of $100.25.

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

About MP Materials

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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