Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Trading 8.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) shares were up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $25.78 and last traded at $26.17. Approximately 1,913,415 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 11,946,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. National Bank Financial set a $12.30 target price on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $28.00 price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.88.

Planet Labs PBC Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.02 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a quick ratio of 4.00, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.96.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.02. Planet Labs PBC had a negative net margin of 45.87% and a negative return on equity of 31.01%. The firm had revenue of $81.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Planet Labs PBC

In other Planet Labs PBC news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 47,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total transaction of $1,289,631.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 222,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,009,303.12. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,782 shares of Planet Labs PBC stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.35, for a total value of $1,427,681.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,164,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,537,506.15. The trade was a 5.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 292,348 shares of company stock valued at $7,323,958. Company insiders own 17.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 671.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 92,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 80,672 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Planet Labs PBC in the first quarter worth $189,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Planet Labs PBC by 6.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 130,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 54.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,856,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,274,000 after buying an additional 653,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 31,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 1,782 shares in 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.