Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Down 9.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s stock price fell 9.4% during trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $68.00 to $67.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Rocket Lab traded as low as $44.37 and last traded at $45.25. 26,222,923 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 20,823,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.97.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on RKLB. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rocket Lab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab

In other news, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 31,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.97, for a total transaction of $1,527,129.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 499,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,438,233.65. The trade was a 5.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 45,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.97, for a total value of $2,229,848.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,320,291 shares in the company, valued at $64,654,650.27. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,406,361 shares of company stock valued at $267,483,973. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 475.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 171,337 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 141,577 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Rocket Lab by 8.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,496 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 180.3% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,040 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 16,750 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Rocket Lab by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,888 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in Rocket Lab by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 27,119 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Lab Stock Down 9.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.08 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.86 and a 200 day moving average of $42.57.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $155.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.45 million. Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.26% and a negative net margin of 35.64%.The company’s revenue was up 48.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Rocket Lab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rocket Lab

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.