Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Down 4.6% After Insider Selling

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) traded down 4.6% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $18.08 and last traded at $18.23. 3,251,625 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 14,419,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.10.

Specifically, insider Frank Klein sold 1,835 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.93, for a total value of $36,571.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,417,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,253,644.92. This trade represents a 0.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 44,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total value of $809,973.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,419,479 shares in the company, valued at $25,806,128.22. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.06.

Rocket Lab USA Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.01. The stock has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.76 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.01). Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.47%. The firm had revenue of $132.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.58 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RKLB. FMR LLC raised its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 30,853.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,696,136 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $94,141,000 after buying an additional 3,684,195 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,623,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,977,000. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,074,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 1,765.4% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,818,800 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $46,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

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.