Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Up 4% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Rocket Lab's price target from $20.00 to $68.00, contributing to a 4% increase in stock price to $68.03.
• Insider sales included CEO Peter Beck selling over 1.4 million shares, while total insider transactions exceeded $267 million in the past three months.
• The stock now has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $46.64, despite mixed ratings from financial analysts.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 4% on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $68.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Rocket Lab traded as high as $69.67 and last traded at $68.03. 27,480,603 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 21,015,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.42.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Rocket Lab from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Craig Hallum began coverage on Rocket Lab in a report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Rocket Lab from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Rocket Lab from $30.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rocket Lab news, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 9,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total transaction of $449,143.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 489,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,355,303.30. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Beck sold 1,436,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total value of $70,026,547.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,500,000 shares in the company, valued at $121,875,000. The trade was a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,406,361 shares of company stock valued at $267,483,973 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Lab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,352 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 3,725 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 109.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,888 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab Trading Up 4.0%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.83 and a 200-day moving average of $36.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -151.18 and a beta of 2.14.

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

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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