Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Shares Down 8.2% – Should You Sell?

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL)’s share price was down 8.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.26 and last traded at $26.1780. Approximately 5,321,781 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 13,504,233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PL. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Planet Labs PBC from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.11.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Down 8.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of -22.77 and a beta of 1.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $94.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.39 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 105.29% and a negative net margin of 111.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 42.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,895,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,520,186.20. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,683 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total transaction of $2,584,062.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 256,488 shares in the company, valued at $8,995,034.16. The trade was a 22.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Planet Labs PBC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,358,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,750,000 after acquiring an additional 806,818 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,820,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,704,000 after purchasing an additional 20,400 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 320.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,678,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Planet Labs PBC by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,702,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,475,000 after purchasing an additional 71,381 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,137,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,599,000 after buying an additional 301,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

About Planet Labs PBC

Planet Labs PBC is a public benefit corporation that operates one of the largest fleets of Earth-imaging satellites, providing high-frequency, high-resolution imagery and data analytics to a broad range of industries. The company’s multi-spectral satellite constellation captures daily snapshots of the planet, enabling clients to monitor changes in agriculture, forestry, urban development, energy infrastructure and environmental conditions. Planet’s imagery platform is designed to support timely decision-making by transforming raw satellite data into actionable insights for business and government users.

Founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler and Chris Boshuizen, Planet Labs grew from a small startup into a key provider in the satellite imaging sector.