Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 2,240 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,179 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,284,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 294,806 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $4,484,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the third quarter valued at $4,584,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,843,000 after purchasing an additional 144,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $375,590,254.76. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,869,851. The trade was a 20.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,112,316 shares of company stock worth $28,665,974. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MP. DA Davidson increased 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MP stock opened at $26.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.03 and a beta of 2.32. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $27.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.87.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.