Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Down 4.3% – Here’s What Happened

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s stock price dropped 4.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $10.31 and last traded at $10.49. Approximately 4,230,439 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 9,863,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on RKLB. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $5.45 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.89.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.66 and a 200-day moving average of $6.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 2.82.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $106.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $105.47 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative return on equity of 34.12% and a negative net margin of 54.17%. Rocket Lab USA’s quarterly revenue was up 71.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rocket Lab USA news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $435,083.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,321,165 shares in the company, valued at $9,195,308.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $198,798.48. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 637,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,437,403.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $435,083.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,321,165 shares in the company, valued at $9,195,308.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,521 shares of company stock valued at $906,059 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,551,789 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $146,831,000 after purchasing an additional 451,370 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 196.6% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 65,014 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 43,095 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,691,090 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,950,000 after purchasing an additional 229,512 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 18.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,074 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 5,838 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Rocket Lab USA during the first quarter worth approximately $192,000. 71.78% of the stock is owned by 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.