Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $7.00 to $13.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA traded as high as $12.69 and last traded at $12.66, with a volume of 975390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.81.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on RKLB. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Rocket Lab USA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $8.00 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $198,798.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 637,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,437,403.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total value of $272,177.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,235.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $198,798.48. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 637,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,437,403.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 130,521 shares of company stock worth $906,059. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,000,578 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,789 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 6.6% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,297,073 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $30,226,000 after buying an additional 391,778 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 11.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,856,973 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,713,000 after buying an additional 284,360 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 25.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,123,591 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,193,000 after buying an additional 432,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 217.1% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,284,060 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,277,000 after buying an additional 879,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.43.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.02. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 54.17% and a negative return on equity of 34.12%. The company had revenue of $106.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $105.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Rocket Lab USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rocket Lab USA

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.