Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Cuts Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 60.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,543 shares of the company’s stock after selling 495,018 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned 0.19% of MP Materials worth $5,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 8,376 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MP Materials by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,216,000 after purchasing an additional 225,554 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in MP Materials by 2,536.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,861 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 47,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $959,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $18.74 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a current ratio of 6.90. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $10.02 and a one year high of $20.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -46.85 and a beta of 2.23.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.08). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. The firm had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

MP Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

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.