Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $22.47, but opened at $21.72. Planet Labs PBC shares last traded at $22.6960, with a volume of 1,649,027 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Northland Securities set a $50.00 price objective on Planet Labs PBC in a research report on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Planet Labs PBC from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.36.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of -20.23 and a beta of 2.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Raymond sold 6,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total value of $169,883.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,114 shares in the company, valued at $970,902.24. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total value of $648,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 225,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,836,432.32. This trade represents a 9.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,087 shares of company stock valued at $2,492,134. 16.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Planet Labs PBC Company Profile

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.