Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) 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 trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on RKLB. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen raised Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.06.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Up 3.0 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.82 and a 200 day moving average of $19.47. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.25 and a beta of 2.06.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $132.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.58 million. Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.47%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $809,973.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,419,479 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 13.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 1,000.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,925 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

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.