Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Down 8.5% – Here’s What Happened

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s stock price traded down 8.5% on Friday . The company traded as low as $70.39 and last traded at $70.65. 22,790,716 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 21,109,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RKLB shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $63.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Rocket Lab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Rocket Lab from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.25.

Rocket Lab Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.43. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -185.92 and a beta of 2.20.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 35.64% and a negative return on equity of 27.26%. The business had revenue of $155.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. Rocket Lab’s quarterly revenue was up 48.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab

In related news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 46,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.86, for a total transaction of $1,920,174.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,995,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,530,940.78. This represents a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 28,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.65, for a total value of $1,163,199.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 461,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,740,219.10. The trade was a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,729,485 shares of company stock worth $151,832,870. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RKLB. Sherman Porfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab during the third quarter valued at about $257,000. Keel Point LLC lifted its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 51,428 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $2,464,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,995 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 480.9% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 58,426 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after acquiring an additional 48,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 28.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,948 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is an aerospace company that provides launch services, spacecraft, and space systems for commercial and government customers. The company’s primary launch vehicle is Electron, a small-lift orbital rocket designed to deploy small satellites and rideshare payloads to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab also develops and manufactures the Rutherford engine, noted for its electric-pump-fed design and additive-manufactured components, which powers Electron and supports the company’s propulsion capabilities.