Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Up 8.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares shot up 8.7% during trading on Thursday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $12.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA traded as high as $12.09 and last traded at $11.86. 7,536,354 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 9,854,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.91.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on RKLB. BTIG Research began coverage on Rocket Lab USA in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $5.45 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered Rocket Lab USA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.89.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,000,578 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,789 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,074 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 5,838 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 40.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,619 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,605 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 294,054 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 6,534 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $886,000. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Lab USA Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.88 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

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

About Rocket Lab USA

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.