Next Century Growth Investors LLC Lowers Holdings in Planet Labs PBC $PL

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors cut its Planet Labs PBC stake by 40.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 712,365 shares and leaving it with 1,065,166 shares valued at about $21.0 million.
• Other major institutional investors were mostly adding to their positions, including Vanguard, Van ECK, Goldman Sachs and others, with hedge funds and institutions owning about 41.71% of the stock overall.
• Planet Labs posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting a smaller-than-expected loss and revenue of $94.15 million, up 42.1% year over year, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a $35.28 target price.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC trimmed its holdings in Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Free Report) by 40.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,065,166 shares of the company's stock after selling 712,365 shares during the period. Planet Labs PBC makes up about 1.5% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Planet Labs PBC worth $21,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,358,515 shares of the company's stock worth $381,750,000 after buying an additional 806,818 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 0.3% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,820,400 shares of the company's stock worth $47,704,000 after buying an additional 20,400 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 320.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,678,938 shares of the company's stock worth $151,429,000 after buying an additional 5,851,758 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,702,642 shares of the company's stock worth $112,475,000 after buying an additional 71,381 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,137,871 shares of the company's stock worth $81,599,000 after buying an additional 301,757 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PL. Craig Hallum raised their price target on Planet Labs PBC from $36.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on Planet Labs PBC from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Planet Labs PBC from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.28.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Down 8.8%

Planet Labs PBC stock opened at $31.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of -27.34 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The stock's fifty day moving average is $38.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.35. Planet Labs PBC has a 1-year low of $4.90 and a 1-year high of $51.76.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $94.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.39 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 105.29% and a negative net margin of 111.17%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 42.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Planet Labs PBC News

Here are the key news stories impacting Planet Labs PBC this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Planet Labs is benefiting from a broad rally in space-related stocks as investors rotate into the sector ahead of SpaceX’s highly anticipated IPO. Planet Labs Stock Skyrockets Ahead Of SpaceX's Friday IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says Planet Labs’ strong results and fresh catalysts could offer upside as investors position for the second half of 2025. 3 Stocks With Fresh Catalysts to Watch Before July 4 (PL)
• Positive Sentiment: Planet Labs is using its AIRS initiative to connect satellite data with sustainability use cases, which could expand commercial opportunities over time. Planet Labs Uses AIRS Initiative To Link Satellite Data With Sustainability
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst note activity included mixed estimate changes from Northland Securities, reflecting some near-term uncertainty but no major change in the longer-term story. Analysts Offer Insights on Industrial Goods Companies: Bloom Energy (BE), Equifax (EFX) and Planet Labs PBC (PL)
• Negative Sentiment: Northland Securities lowered some future EPS estimates for Planet Labs, which could weigh on sentiment by highlighting continued profitability challenges. Analyst estimate updates for Planet Labs PBC (PL)

Insider Transactions at Planet Labs PBC

In other Planet Labs PBC news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of Planet Labs PBC stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,895,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,520,186.20. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,683 shares of Planet Labs PBC stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $2,584,062.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 256,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,995,034.16. This trade represents a 22.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Planet Labs PBC 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.

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