Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Trims Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Duff & Phelps Investment Management trimmed its position in MP Materials by 64.1% in Q3, selling 13,446 shares and leaving it with 7,519 shares valued at about $504,000.
• CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares on Jan. 8 at an average price of $64.17 for roughly $17.49 million, a 2.08% reduction in his stake; company insiders now own about 9.5% of the stock.
• Analysts are overall positive with an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $78.91, amid mixed recent notes (two Strong Buy, thirteen Buy, one Sell).

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,519 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,446 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s holdings in MP Materials were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 4,600.0% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in MP Materials by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 75.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 642 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MP. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP stock opened at $60.07 on Friday. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $18.64 and a one year high of $100.25. The firm has a market cap of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -115.52 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a current ratio of 7.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.57.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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