Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Up 4.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Rocket Lab shares rose 4.9% intraday to $75.84 (high $76.80) on Monday, with trading volume of ~16.14M shares, about 36% below the average session.
• Analysts lifted ratings and targets—Morgan Stanley upgraded to Overweight with a $105 target and Bank of America raised its target to $120—while MarketBeat shows a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $72.92.
• Insider selling has been sizable: CFO Adam C. Spice sold 1,365,665 shares for roughly $103.1M, and insiders sold ~4.306M shares (~$271.9M) in the last quarter, even though institutions own about 71.8% of the stock.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $76.80 and last traded at $75.84. 16,139,555 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 25,121,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on RKLB. Morgan Stanley upgraded Rocket Lab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Rocket Lab from $60.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Rocket Lab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.92.

Rocket Lab Trading Up 4.9%

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $73.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.18.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $155.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.45 million. Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 35.64% and a negative return on equity of 27.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 48.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab

In other news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 1,365,665 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $103,107,707.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,359,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,647,384. This represents a 50.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 100,000 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.95, for a total value of $7,295,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,169,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at $85,314,076.65. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,306,150 shares of company stock worth $271,865,732. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Rocket Lab in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Lab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 352.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 543 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company's stock.

Rocket Lab Company Profile

Rocket Lab is an aerospace company that provides launch services, spacecraft, and space systems for commercial and government customers. The company's primary launch vehicle is Electron, a small-lift orbital rocket designed to deploy small satellites and rideshare payloads to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab also develops and manufactures the Rutherford engine, noted for its electric-pump-fed design and additive-manufactured components, which powers Electron and supports the company's propulsion capabilities.

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.