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Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Trading Down 4.7% - Should You Sell?

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Key Points

  • Planet Labs PBC shares fell 4.7% on Wednesday, trading as low as $31.54 on lighter-than-average volume before closing near $31.56.
  • Recent analyst activity was mixed but generally constructive: several firms raised price targets, and the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating with an average target of $35.11.
  • The company reported better-than-expected Q4 results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while revenue rose 42.1% year over year; however, the business remains unprofitable and insiders have recently sold shares.
  • MarketBeat previews the top five stocks to own by August 1st.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) traded down 4.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $31.54 and last traded at $31.5570. Approximately 11,437,489 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 13,814,338 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $36.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Planet Labs PBC from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.11.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Planet Labs PBC

Planet Labs PBC Trading Down 4.7%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.32 and a 200 day moving average of $29.86. The firm has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.68 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $94.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.39 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 105.29% and a negative net margin of 111.17%.Planet Labs PBC's quarterly revenue was up 42.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Planet Labs PBC

In other news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,895,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,520,186.20. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,683 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 256,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 16.42% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Planet Labs PBC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,358,515 shares of the company's stock worth $381,750,000 after purchasing an additional 806,818 shares during the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Planet Labs PBC in the third quarter valued at about $13,564,000. AMI Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Planet Labs PBC in the fourth quarter valued at about $673,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Planet Labs PBC in the third quarter valued at about $875,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Planet Labs PBC during the fourth quarter worth about $8,457,000. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Planet Labs PBC

(Get Free Report)

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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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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