Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $38.21 and last traded at $36.3820, with a volume of 4416561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PL shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. National Bank Financial set a $12.30 target price on Planet Labs PBC in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research raised Planet Labs PBC from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Planet Labs PBC has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.70.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37. The stock has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.20 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.98.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $86.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.17 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 69.61% and a negative net margin of 80.22%.Planet Labs PBC’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,895,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,520,186.20. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vijaya Gadde sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $535,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 250,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,697,024.13. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 418,566 shares of company stock valued at $12,916,276 over the last quarter. 17.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Planet Labs PBC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,457,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Planet Labs PBC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $554,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 5,433.1% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 61,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 60,742 shares during the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 1,837.6% in the fourth quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 83,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 78,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Planet Labs PBC Company Profile

Planet Labs PBC is a public benefit corporation that operates one of the largest fleets of Earth-imaging satellites, providing high-frequency, high-resolution imagery and data analytics to a broad range of industries. The company’s multi-spectral satellite constellation captures daily snapshots of the planet, enabling clients to monitor changes in agriculture, forestry, urban development, energy infrastructure and environmental conditions. Planet’s imagery platform is designed to support timely decision-making by transforming raw satellite data into actionable insights for business and government users.

Founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler and Chris Boshuizen, Planet Labs grew from a small startup into a key provider in the satellite imaging sector.