Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 160.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,762 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,934 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MP. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,245,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,988,000 after purchasing an additional 306,933 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 806.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 42,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 38,204 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MP Materials by 35.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 604,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,676,000 after buying an additional 159,200 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $959,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 197.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 96,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 63,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.50, for a total value of $752,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 260,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,590,451.50. This trade represents a 11.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.68, for a total value of $4,852,913.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,608,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,141,898.12. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 884,862 shares of company stock valued at $17,484,482 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on MP Materials from $16.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.10.

MP Materials Stock Down 1.4 %

MP opened at $19.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.65. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.52 and a beta of 2.24. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $10.02 and a 12 month high of $24.01.

MP Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.