Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its stake in MP Materials by 25.6% in Q3, selling 124,400 shares and finishing the quarter with 361,360 shares worth about $24.24 million (≈0.20% of the company).
• Analyst sentiment has turned positive with multiple upgrades (including Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank), giving MP Materials a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.91.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — CFO and CEO sales contributed to 338,146 shares sold in the last three months (~$21.5 million) — though insiders still hold about 9.5% of the stock.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 361,360 shares of the company's stock after selling 124,400 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 0.20% of MP Materials worth $24,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in MP Materials by 500.0% in the third quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company's stock valued at $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% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 642 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MP. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised MP Materials from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:MP opened at $58.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.04 and a beta of 1.55. The company's fifty day moving average price is $60.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.70. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $18.64 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 6.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 338,146 shares of company stock valued at $21,535,376. Insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

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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