Rocket Lab USA Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 35,562 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the average daily volume of 22,048 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $198,798.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 637,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,437,403.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total transaction of $272,177.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,235.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Arjun Kampani sold 28,563 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $198,798.48. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 637,558 shares in the company, valued at $4,437,403.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 130,521 shares of company stock valued at $906,059. Insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 69,142 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Rocket Lab USA by 7.5% during the second quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40,180 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 11.9% in the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 33,160 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,816 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 4,032 shares during the period. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RKLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered Rocket Lab USA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $8.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $4.50 price objective for the company. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.86.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

Shares of Rocket Lab USA stock opened at $7.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.19 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5.96 and its 200-day moving average is $4.86. Rocket Lab USA has a one year low of $3.47 and a one year high of $7.72.

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.02. Rocket Lab USA had a negative return on equity of 34.12% and a negative net margin of 54.17%. The firm had revenue of $106.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $105.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 71.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Rocket Lab USA will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.