Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL)

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 31,546 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,328 call options.

Insider Activity at Planet Labs PBC

In other news, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,683 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $2,584,062.81. Following the transaction, the insider owned 256,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,995,034.16. This represents a 22.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,895,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,520,186.20. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 16.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Planet Labs PBC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 320.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,678,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,758 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 758.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,727,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,293,333 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 265.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,450,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506,595 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 257.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,362,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,535 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,551,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,880 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $36.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “sell” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.11.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Performance

PL stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $32.71. 18,255,076 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,283,232. Planet Labs PBC has a 52-week low of $4.90 and a 52-week high of $51.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.70 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.79 and its 200 day moving average is $27.74.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. Planet Labs PBC had a negative net margin of 111.17% and a negative return on equity of 105.29%. The business had revenue of $94.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.39 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 42.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

About Planet Labs PBC

Planet Labs PBC is a public benefit corporation that operates one of the largest fleets of Earth-imaging satellites, providing high-frequency, high-resolution imagery and data analytics to a broad range of industries. The company’s multi-spectral satellite constellation captures daily snapshots of the planet, enabling clients to monitor changes in agriculture, forestry, urban development, energy infrastructure and environmental conditions. Planet’s imagery platform is designed to support timely decision-making by transforming raw satellite data into actionable insights for business and government users.

Founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler and Chris Boshuizen, Planet Labs grew from a small startup into a key provider in the satellite imaging sector.