Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $22.38, but opened at $23.20. Rocket Lab USA shares last traded at $22.57, with a volume of 3,120,068 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on RKLB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rocket Lab USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.25.

Rocket Lab USA Trading Down 2.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.32. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.88 and a beta of 2.08.

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

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, insider Frank Klein sold 1,835 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $28,253,644.92. This trade represents a 0.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 30,853.3% in 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 position in shares of Rocket Lab USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,623,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the 4th quarter valued at $56,977,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in Rocket Lab USA in the 4th quarter valued at $47,074,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Rocket Lab USA by 1,765.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,818,800 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $46,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,300 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Lab USA 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.