Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Down 0.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price dropped 0.3% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $21.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA traded as low as $20.17 and last traded at $20.44. Approximately 7,764,718 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 20,056,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.49.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $1,150,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 534,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,525. This trade represents a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nina Armagno sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $236,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 132,294 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,107.22. This trade represents a 7.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 13.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,195,577 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $921,901,000 after buying an additional 668,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,285,693 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $211,084,000 after buying an additional 32,658 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 30,853.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,696,136 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $94,141,000 after buying an additional 3,684,195 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,227,617 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $82,207,000 after buying an additional 281,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,902,212 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $73,919,000 after purchasing an additional 23,855 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab USA Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of -55.36 and a beta of 1.99.

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