Vontobel Holding Ltd. Lowers Position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 45.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,614 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,532 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in MP Materials were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,284,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $399,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $388,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the company's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,118,580 shares of the company's stock worth $33,050,000 after buying an additional 7,453 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MP. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up from $32.00) on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,454,498.08. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MP traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.10. The company had a trading volume of 6,026,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,724,466. The company has a quick ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $39.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.85 and a beta of 2.26.

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

MP Materials Company 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.