Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Should You Buy?

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares shot up 1.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $89.80 and last traded at $88.57. 16,115,491 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 27,361,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RKLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Rocket Lab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. KeyCorp lowered Rocket Lab from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Rocket Lab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Rocket Lab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.92.

Rocket Lab Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -233.08 and a beta of 2.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.83.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.26% and a negative net margin of 35.64%.The company had revenue of $155.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Rocket Lab

In other news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 1,365,665 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $103,107,707.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,359,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,647,384. This trade represents a 50.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.95, for a total value of $7,295,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,169,487 shares in the company, valued at $85,314,076.65. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,306,150 shares of company stock worth $271,865,732. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in Rocket Lab in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,935,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 168,000 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,827 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $589,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Rocket Lab by 174.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 297,636 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $20,763,000 after acquiring an additional 189,020 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab Company Profile

Rocket Lab is an aerospace company that provides launch services, spacecraft, and space systems for commercial and government customers. The company’s primary launch vehicle is Electron, a small-lift orbital rocket designed to deploy small satellites and rideshare payloads to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab also develops and manufactures the Rutherford engine, noted for its electric-pump-fed design and additive-manufactured components, which powers Electron and supports the company’s propulsion capabilities.