Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Trading Down 1.1% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 1.1% to $33.94 on Tuesday with volume about 16% above average; the stock trades at a market cap of $11.75 billion and carries an average analyst rating of "Hold" with a mean target of $29.61 (some analysts have targets up to $40).
• Planet reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.48), missing estimates by $0.43 while beating revenue expectations with $86.8M (+41.1% YoY), but the business still shows deep losses (net margin -80.2%, ROE -69.6%) and an expected FY EPS of around -0.37.
• Insiders have been net sellers—492,249 shares (~$15.5M) sold in the past three months (insiders still own 17.5%)—even as institutions like Goldman Sachs materially increased their positions.

Shares of Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) fell 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $31.88 and last traded at $33.94. 16,258,559 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 14,018,165 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PL. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. National Bank Financial set a $12.30 price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.61.

Planet Labs PBC Trading Down 1.1%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $27.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.51 and a beta of 1.83.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $86.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.17 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 69.61% and a negative net margin of 80.22%.The business's revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Planet Labs PBC

In other news, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,683 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $2,584,062.81. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 256,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,995,034.16. This represents a 22.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 47,835 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total transaction of $1,289,631.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,009,303.12. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 492,249 shares of company stock valued at $15,500,339. Company insiders own 17.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 671.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 92,693 shares of the company's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 80,672 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Planet Labs PBC during the 1st quarter worth about $189,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 130,798 shares of the company's stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,856,245 shares of the company's stock worth $6,274,000 after acquiring an additional 653,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Planet Labs PBC during the 2nd quarter worth about $121,000. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Planet Labs PBC Company 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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