Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,341 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock after selling 14,661 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Rocket Lab USA were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the second quarter valued at about $5,469,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,930,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,253,035 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $80,317,000 after buying an additional 898,223 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,878,357 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $28,006,000 after buying an additional 532,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 11.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,856,973 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $13,713,000 after buying an additional 284,360 shares in the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

Shares of RKLB opened at $28.80 on Tuesday. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.47 and a 52 week high of $30.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.84 and a beta of 1.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rocket Lab USA news, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $1,150,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 534,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,525. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Ocko sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.73, for a total transaction of $35,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,351,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,685,623.55. This represents a 45.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,114,530 shares of company stock valued at $38,168,400. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on RKLB. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rocket Lab USA from $13.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on Rocket Lab USA in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.44.

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.