Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $10.00 to $30.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 13,521,038 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 27% from the previous session's volume of 10,653,604 shares.The stock last traded at $17.68 and had previously closed at $18.83.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on RKLB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Rocket Lab USA in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Rocket Lab USA from $5.25 to $13.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $14.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab USA

In other news, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total transaction of $272,177.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,353 shares in the company, valued at $292,235.70. The trade was a 48.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $198,798.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 637,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,437,403.68. This represents a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,521 shares of company stock valued at $906,059 in the last three months. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RKLB. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 59.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,816 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 4,032 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Rocket Lab USA in the second quarter worth $46,000. Baxter Bros Inc. bought a new stake in Rocket Lab USA in the second quarter worth $48,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Rocket Lab USA during the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.86 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 2.82. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.70.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $104.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.74 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 37.95%. Analysts forecast that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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.