Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $139.76 and last traded at $136.9070, with a volume of 13843893 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $125.45.

More Rocket Lab News

Here are the key news stories impacting Rocket Lab this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rocket Lab won a $90 million U.S. Space Force contract, marking its first satellite production program for geostationary orbit and broadening its defense revenue opportunities. Rocket Lab Awarded $90M Contract to Build GEO Satellites Hosting Space Domain Awareness Payload for U.S. Space Force
• Positive Sentiment: The company reported mission success on its 9th Electron launch for Synspective, underscoring steady execution in its launch business and strong commercial customer relationships. Mission Success: Rocket Lab Completes 9th Electron Launch for Synspective
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary tied Rocket Lab to the broader SpaceX IPO and space-infrastructure theme, which may be helping sentiment across the sector but is not a direct fundamental update for RKLB. SpaceX Gets the Attention, But These 4 Stocks Could Get the Returns
• Negative Sentiment: Recent filings for a potential $3 billion share sale continue to raise dilution concerns, which has been a headwind and may limit upside if investors focus on capital issuance risk. Rocket Lab Stock Plunges as $3B Share Sale Raises Dilution Fears

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RKLB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on Rocket Lab from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Rocket Lab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Rocket Lab from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Rocket Lab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.19.

Rocket Lab Trading Up 6.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 4.02 and a current ratio of 4.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.72. The company has a market capitalization of $77.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -416.67 and a beta of 2.30.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.07). The company had revenue of $200.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.65 million. Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 11.72% and a negative net margin of 26.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rocket Lab news, CEO Peter Beck sold 18,857 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total value of $1,312,258.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 884,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,523,475.15. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,744 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total value of $4,366,354.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,296,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,245,982.16. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 333,449 shares of company stock worth $28,295,233. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RKLB. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 176.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,125,910 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $580,952,000 after purchasing an additional 7,734,788 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,420,192 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,308,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,610,469 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $341,036,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 818.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,190,132 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $104,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,755 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,200,726 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,130,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,623 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Lab Company Profile

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.