Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 197,375 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its stake in MP Materials by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 197,375 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 2.54 million shares worth about $128.6 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive on MP Materials, with a consensus Buy rating and a consensus price target of $80.14; several firms recently reiterated or raised targets, including Wedbush at $100.
• MP Materials reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, posting $0.03 EPS on revenue of $90.65 million, though the company still has negative margins and insiders have recently sold shares, including CEO James H. Litinsky.

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,544,743 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 197,375 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.44% of MP Materials worth $128,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $173,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,908 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in MP Materials by 1,320.8% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter valued at $35,858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MP shares. Wedbush increased their price objective on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $65.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -155.81 and a beta of 1.86. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $60.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.76. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.26 and a fifty-two 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 the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $3,229,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,805,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $762,429,219.70. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock valued at $69,329,207. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

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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