Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Up 10.4% – Still a Buy?

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) traded up 10.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $49.68 and last traded at $49.37. 27,326,983 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 20,568,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rocket Lab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Baird R W raised shares of Rocket Lab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Rocket Lab from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.17.

Rocket Lab Stock Up 10.4%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of -129.92 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.18.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.26% and a negative net margin of 35.64%.The company had revenue of $155.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Peter Beck sold 1,436,442 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total transaction of $70,026,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,875,000. The trade was a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Ocko sold 1,873,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.20, for a total transaction of $90,283,275.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 541,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,101,553.20. This trade represents a 77.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,573,532 shares of company stock valued at $274,301,358. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 176.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,125,910 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $580,952,000 after buying an additional 7,734,788 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the 2nd quarter worth about $192,918,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the 2nd quarter worth about $164,751,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Rocket Lab by 10.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,029,546 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $715,728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,833,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,242,304 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $223,287,000 after buying an additional 2,504,054 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rocket Lab

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.