Rocket Lab USA Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 35,562 call options on the company. This is an increase of 61% compared to the average volume of 22,048 call options.

Rocket Lab USA Trading Up 5.6 %

NASDAQ:RKLB traded up $0.40 on Friday, reaching $7.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,492,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,159,071. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.41 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Rocket Lab USA has a 12-month low of $3.47 and a 12-month high of $7.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.83.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on RKLB. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Rocket Lab USA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $5.45 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,512 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $435,083.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,321,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,195,308.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,512 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $435,083.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,321,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,195,308.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total value of $272,177.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,235.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 130,521 shares of company stock valued at $906,059. Company insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab USA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 59.4% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,816 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 4,032 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Rocket Lab USA during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Baxter Bros Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Lab USA during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,038 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

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.