Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading 11% Higher – Here’s Why

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price was up 11% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.87 and last traded at $27.70. Approximately 8,909,080 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 10,456,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RKLB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $5.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $13.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen raised Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.44.

Rocket Lab USA Trading Up 15.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.67 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.79.

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab USA

In other Rocket Lab USA news, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 534,675 shares in the company, 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, Director Matthew Ocko sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.73, for a total value of $35,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,351,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,685,623.55. This represents a 45.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,114,530 shares of company stock worth $38,168,400 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RKLB. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Rocket Lab USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the third quarter valued at $107,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,226 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Rocket Lab USA in the 3rd quarter worth about $106,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,253,035 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $80,317,000 after purchasing an additional 898,223 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.