Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Up 4.1% – Should You Buy?

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) was up 4.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.10 and last traded at $51.64. Approximately 24,760,536 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 20,730,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on RKLB shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Rocket Lab from $20.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Rocket Lab from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Rocket Lab Trading Up 4.1%

The company has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of -114.76 and a beta of 2.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 48.14% and a negative net margin of 45.87%.The firm had revenue of $144.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Rocket Lab’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab

In other news, CEO Peter Beck sold 1,436,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total value of $70,026,547.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,875,000. This trade represents a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 4,286 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.72, for a total value of $204,527.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,316,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,799,758.60. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,406,361 shares of company stock valued at $267,483,973. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,809,723 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $2,003,104,000 after buying an additional 2,127,565 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 176.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,125,910 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $580,952,000 after buying an additional 7,734,788 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Rocket Lab by 67.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,242,304 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $223,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504,054 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $192,918,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth about $164,751,000. Institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

About Rocket Lab

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.