Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Up 6.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Rocket Lab's stock price increased by 6.2%, reaching highs of $68.53 before closing at $65.31 amidst significantly elevated trading volume.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Rocket Lab, with several increasing price targets, including Citigroup's rise to $50.00, while Weiss Ratings maintained a "sell" recommendation.
• Insider selling has been notable, with key executives selling large portions of their shares, indicating a decrease in insider confidence in the company's future performance.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 6.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $68.53 and last traded at $65.31. Approximately 35,960,912 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 73% from the average daily volume of 20,796,662 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RKLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America increased their price target 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 reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.27.

Rocket Lab Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $31.61 billion, a PE ratio of -145.13 and a beta of 2.14. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $47.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.33.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $144.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.42 million. Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 45.87% and a negative return on equity of 48.14%. The business's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. Rocket Lab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Ocko sold 1,873,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.20, for a total transaction of $90,283,275.40. Following the sale, the director owned 541,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,101,553.20. The trade was a 77.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 874,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.01, for a total transaction of $41,988,969.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,057,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,799,250.89. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,406,361 shares of company stock worth $267,483,973. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Lab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the 2nd quarter worth about $192,918,000. Sender Co & Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the 1st quarter worth about $621,000. McGuire Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 196,107 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 93,613 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,128,536 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $38,057,000 after purchasing an additional 128,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 186.0% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,397,342 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $24,984,000 after purchasing an additional 908,808 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.78% of the company's stock.

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.

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