MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 890,290 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,408 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.54% of MP Materials worth $21,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 119,900.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. CX Institutional bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in MP Materials by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MP. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on MP Materials from $27.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up previously from $32.00) on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.28.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.06. The stock had a trading volume of 37,119,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,264,646. The stock has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of -69.32 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a current ratio of 4.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.72. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $10.02 and a 52-week high of $50.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 9.77% and a negative net margin of 48.41%. The business's revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $369,454,498.08. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MP Materials Profile

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.