Legato Capital Management LLC Invests $400,000 in Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Key Points

• Legato Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab Corporation valued at approximately $400,000 during the first quarter, purchasing 22,390 shares.
• Recent insider transactions include significant sales by directors, with Matthew Ocko selling 820,000 shares for over $21 million, representing a 43.09% decrease in his holdings.
• Several analysts have given positive ratings on Rocket Lab, with Citigroup raising its target price to $50.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating.

Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 22,390 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 118.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,588 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB acquired a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 181.1% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,925 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RKLB has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $30.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.10.

Rocket Lab Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ RKLB traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,499,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,171,824. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.53. The stock has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.58 and a beta of 2.15. Rocket Lab Corporation has a 52 week low of $4.20 and a 52 week high of $53.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $122.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.74 million. Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 44.32% and a negative return on equity of 48.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab

In other Rocket Lab news, Director Merline Saintil sold 6,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.41, for a total transaction of $186,841.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 425,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,526,366.02. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Arjun Kampani sold 28,988 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $772,820.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 540,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,412,875.88. This represents a 5.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,130,995 shares of company stock worth $29,686,039 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.70% of the company's stock.

Rocket Lab 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.