Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading 2.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price traded up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $30.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA traded as high as $18.03 and last traded at $17.80. 10,191,857 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 10,800,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.36.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $5.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $198,798.48. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 637,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,437,403.68. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $435,083.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,321,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,195,308.40. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 130,521 shares of company stock valued at $906,059. Insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,587 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 69,142 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40,180 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.35 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.77.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $104.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.74 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.47%. Analysts expect 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.