Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading 1% Higher – Should You Buy?

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) shot up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.41 and last traded at $18.16. 2,773,695 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 14,400,421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.06.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.91 and a beta of 2.06.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $132.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.58 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Rocket Lab USA news, insider Frank Klein sold 44,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total value of $809,973.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,419,479 shares in the company, valued at $25,806,128.22. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 691,387 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $6,727,000 after buying an additional 220,432 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 22.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,878,357 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $28,006,000 after acquiring an additional 532,207 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $80,317,000 after acquiring an additional 898,223 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Rocket Lab USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $449,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 149.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 50,408 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 30,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

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.