Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Up 4.1% – Still a Buy?

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares rose 4.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.10 and last traded at $51.64. Approximately 24,760,536 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 20,730,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on RKLB. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Rocket Lab in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Rocket Lab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rocket Lab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Rocket Lab Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $55.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.76 and a beta of 2.16.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $144.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.42 million. Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 48.14% and a negative net margin of 45.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab

In other news, Director Matthew Ocko sold 1,873,097 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.20, for a total value 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. The trade was a 77.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 9,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total value of $449,143.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 489,629 shares in the company, valued at $23,355,303.30. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,406,361 shares of company stock valued at $267,483,973. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Rocket Lab by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,809,723 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $2,003,104,000 after buying an additional 2,127,565 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 7,734,788 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 67.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,242,304 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $223,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504,054 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the second quarter worth about $192,918,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth approximately $164,751,000. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Lab Company Profile

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.