Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $29.99 and last traded at $29.44, with a volume of 3757550 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RKLB. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Rocket Lab USA from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $13.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.44.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.54 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rocket Lab USA 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 transaction of $35,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,351,135 shares in the company, valued at $41,685,623.55. This represents a 45.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,562 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.15, for a total value of $689,772.30. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 608,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,707,253.40. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,114,530 shares of company stock worth $38,168,400 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 8,928 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Rocket Lab USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted 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 worth $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 93,447 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 97.8% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,230 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 21.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 89,008 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 15,565 shares in the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.