Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Up 5.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) were up 5.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $11.42 and last traded at $11.26. Approximately 3,972,486 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 9,873,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Rocket Lab USA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.89.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.05. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.97 and a beta of 1.32.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.02. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 54.17% and a negative return on equity of 34.12%. The firm had revenue of $106.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. Rocket Lab USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total value of $272,177.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,235.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Rocket Lab USA news, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $198,798.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 637,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,437,403.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total transaction of $272,177.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,235.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 130,521 shares of company stock worth $906,059. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 9.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,000,578 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,192,000 after buying an additional 2,448,789 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the 2nd quarter worth $5,469,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 217.1% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,284,060 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $5,277,000 after purchasing an additional 879,160 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 25.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,123,591 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $10,193,000 after buying an additional 432,501 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 6.6% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,297,073 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $30,226,000 after buying an additional 391,778 shares in the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rocket Lab USA Company Profile

Rocket Lab USA, Inc, a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets.