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

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.42, but opened at $19.56. Rocket Lab USA shares last traded at $18.67, with a volume of 8,347,488 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on RKLB. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Rocket Lab USA from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Rocket Lab USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rocket Lab USA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.06.

Rocket Lab USA Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.75 and a beta of 2.06. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.58.

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Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $132.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.58 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.47%. Equities research analysts expect that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Frank Klein sold 44,553 shares of the firm'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 value of $809,973.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,419,479 shares in the company, valued at $25,806,128.22. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 13.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 30,853.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,696,136 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $94,141,000 after buying an additional 3,684,195 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,623,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,977,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in Rocket Lab USA during the 4th quarter valued at $47,074,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 1,765.4% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,818,800 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $46,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,300 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.