Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $35.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.00, but opened at $26.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA shares last traded at $28.73, with a volume of 10,294,357 shares trading hands.

RKLB has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total value of $1,150,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 534,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,525. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,562 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.15, for a total value of $689,772.30. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 608,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,707,253.40. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,114,530 shares of company stock valued at $38,168,400 in the last 90 days. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,185 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 4,997 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 205,190 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 35,849 shares during the period. Finally, Scientech Research LLC increased its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 135.4% during the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 182,520 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 104,980 shares in the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.52. The stock has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.25 and a beta of 1.98.

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.