Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. significantly increased its ownership in Rocket Lab Corporation by 661.5%, acquiring an additional 300,337 shares, bringing its total to 345,740 shares valued at approximately $6.18 million.
• Insider transactions revealed a decrease in ownership, as Director Merline Saintil sold 6,353 shares and Arjun Kampani sold 28,988 shares during recent months, indicating potential shifts in insider confidence.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Rocket Lab, with firms like Bank of America raising target prices significantly, while the stock holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $34.10.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Free Report) by 661.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 345,740 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 300,337 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.08% of Rocket Lab worth $6,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the fourth quarter worth $17,261,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 2,186.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 353,522 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $6,321,000 after acquiring an additional 338,062 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 52.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 58,652 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 20,076 shares during the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 132.1% in the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 27,261 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 15,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 9.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 525,018 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $9,387,000 after acquiring an additional 45,889 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rocket Lab news, insider Arjun Kampani sold 5,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $155,820.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 530,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,906,900. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 2,546 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $76,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,365,826 shares in the company, valued at $40,974,780. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company's stock.

Rocket Lab Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ RKLB traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.54. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $4.20 and a 1-year high of $53.44.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.