Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $22.38, but opened at $23.20. Rocket Lab USA shares last traded at $22.57, with a volume of 3,120,068 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RKLB. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Friday, April 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rocket Lab USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.25.

Rocket Lab USA Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a PE ratio of -60.54 and a beta of 2.08.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $132.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, insider Frank Klein sold 44,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total value of $809,973.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,419,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,806,128.22. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 19.9% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 80,615 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 13,378 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 8.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,496 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 25.0% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 47,146 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 9,418 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,236,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 475.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 171,337 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 141,577 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.