Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires New Stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 45,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MP. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 136.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 3,803.8% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 817.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 35.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,608,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,141,898.12. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total value of $278,068.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 295,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,398,884.30. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 884,862 shares of company stock worth $17,484,482. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MP Materials Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MP traded down $0.29 on Friday, hitting $19.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,118,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,958,919. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of -36.52 and a beta of 2.24. The company's 50-day moving average is $18.87 and its 200 day moving average is $15.64. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $24.01.

MP Materials announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally 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.