Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Up 8.5% - Here's What Happened

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 8.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $26.71 and last traded at $26.11. Approximately 19,317,485 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 69% from the average daily volume of 11,440,163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RKLB shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $5.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $13.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.50.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Up 6.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company's fifty day moving average price is $12.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a PE ratio of -70.57 and a beta of 1.29.

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, Director Matthew Ocko sold 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.73, for a total transaction of $35,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,351,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,685,623.55. This represents a 45.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 13.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 9.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,000,578 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $119,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,789 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Rocket Lab USA in the second quarter worth about $5,469,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,930,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,253,035 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $80,317,000 after purchasing an additional 898,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,878,357 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $28,006,000 after purchasing an additional 532,207 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Rocket Lab USA

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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