Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Up 28.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares were up 28.3% on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $35.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rocket Lab USA traded as high as $31.64 and last traded at $30.80. Approximately 32,998,601 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 92% from the average daily volume of 17,228,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on RKLB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $13.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp increased their price target 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $1,150,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 534,675 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,525. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew Ocko sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.73, for a total transaction of $35,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,351,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,685,623.55. The trade was a 45.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,114,530 shares of company stock worth $38,168,400. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 11,746 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 4.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,587 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 30.0% in the third quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,438 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 3,220 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $15.46 billion, a PE ratio of -83.24 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.52.

Rocket Lab USA Company Profile

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.