Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 23,822 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,211 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,822 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in MP Materials were worth $939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in MP Materials by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company's stock worth $101,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,505 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company's stock worth $37,945,000 after buying an additional 73,297 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MP Materials by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,207,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,433,000 after purchasing an additional 176,121 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,118,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,050,000 after buying an additional 7,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company's stock worth $16,843,000 after acquiring an additional 144,661 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,799,924. This trade represents a 6.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $13,115,104.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 943,792 shares of company stock worth $25,286,567. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MP. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of MP traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.68. 2,938,860 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,744,086. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $29.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.03. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.35 and a beta of 2.24.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. The business's revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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.