Quent Capital LLC Increases Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in MP Materials by 11,538%, adding 37,383 shares to hold 37,707 shares worth about $1.905 million at quarter-end.
• Company insiders sold a combined 346,000 shares (~$21.97M) over the last quarter, including CFO Ryan Corbett (46,000 shares at $60) and CEO James H. Litinsky (259,179 shares at $64.03, executed under a 10b5‑1 plan).
• Analysts on average rate MP Materials a Buy with a consensus target of $79.08, though views vary — e.g., Wedbush at $90/outperform while Morgan Stanley cut its target to $62 (overweight).

Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 11,538.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,707 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,383 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC's holdings in MP Materials were worth $1,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 555.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in MP Materials by 106.2% in the third quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 635 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 75.9% during 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MP shares. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.08.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 346,000 shares of company stock worth $21,969,816. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP stock opened at $60.82 on Friday. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $18.64 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -116.96 and a beta of 1.67.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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