Rocket Lab USA Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 131,575 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 87% compared to the average daily volume of 70,272 call options.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of RKLB traded down $1.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,245,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,307,849. The stock has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a PE ratio of -73.92 and a beta of 2.04. Rocket Lab USA has a 12-month low of $4.17 and a 12-month high of $33.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company's 50 day moving average is $21.46 and its 200 day moving average is $23.20.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $122.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $120.74 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative return on equity of 39.47% and a negative net margin of 51.76%. Rocket Lab USA's revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Rocket Lab USA will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rocket Lab USA news, insider Frank Klein sold 44,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total transaction of $809,973.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,419,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,806,128.22. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Rocket Lab USA by 9.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 525,018 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $9,387,000 after buying an additional 45,889 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Rocket Lab USA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,150,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 36.3% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 257,590 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 68,573 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 1.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 67,584 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA in the first quarter valued at $179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RKLB has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $14.35 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Rocket Lab USA from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.18.

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.