Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price traded down 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $23.70 and last traded at $24.83. 5,925,562 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 12,281,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on RKLB. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $13.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $5.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Rocket Lab USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.44.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.79. The company has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.67 and a beta of 1.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Ocko sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.73, for a total value of $35,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,351,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,685,623.55. This represents a 45.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 35,968 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.15, for a total value of $868,627.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,464,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,356,372.80. This trade represents a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,114,530 shares of company stock valued at $38,168,400. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 54.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 58,690 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 20,636 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 47,002 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 8,928 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 24.2% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 480,154 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after acquiring an additional 93,447 shares during the period. 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.