Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $35.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.00, but opened at $26.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA shares last traded at $28.73, with a volume of 10,294,357 shares traded.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on RKLB. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $13.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.06.

Insider Transactions at Rocket Lab USA

In other Rocket Lab USA news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,351,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,685,623.55. This represents a 45.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $1,150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 534,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,525. The trade was a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,114,530 shares of company stock valued at $38,168,400 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 1,827.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,484 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 8,992 shares in the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the 3rd quarter valued at $104,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,185 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 4,997 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rocket Lab USA Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.58. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of -84.51 and a beta of 1.98.

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.