Traders Buy Large Volume of MP Materials Call Options (NYSE:MP)

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 8,211 call options on the company. This is an increase of 120% compared to the average daily volume of 3,728 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.10.

MP Materials Trading Up 11.1 %

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $23.13 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.53. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $10.02 and a fifty-two week high of $24.01.

MP Materials announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, September 3rd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 300,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.45, for a total transaction of $5,535,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 18,221,776 shares in the company, valued at $336,191,767.20. The trade was a 1.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.50, for a total transaction 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 represents a 11.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 650,195 shares of company stock valued at $12,631,569 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 136.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 817.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 3,262 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 3,803.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.