Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,074,189 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 44.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,358,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,074,189 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.83% of MP Materials worth $33,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 119,900.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,566 shares of the company's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $18.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on MP Materials from $27.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on MP Materials from $52.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.11.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,591,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,732,403. MP Materials Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $10.02 and a fifty-two week high of $65.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a PE ratio of -92.79 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.99. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 9.77% and a negative net margin of 48.41%. The company had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.74 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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.