Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $17.36, but opened at $18.12. Planet Labs PBC shares last traded at $18.4470, with a volume of 4,220,285 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PL shares. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Planet Labs PBC from $53.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Friday, September 4th. Citigroup lowered shares of Planet Labs PBC from a “market perform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Craig Hallum set a $35.00 target price on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Friday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Planet Labs PBC presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.77.

Planet Labs PBC Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of -16.14 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.04. Planet Labs PBC had a negative net margin of 95.13% and a negative return on equity of 93.11%. The firm had revenue of $116.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $104.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Planet Labs PBC news, Director John W. Raymond sold 6,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total transaction of $169,883.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $970,902.24. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 52,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total transaction of $885,990.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 170,171 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,100.16. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 290,525 shares of company stock valued at $6,166,391. 16.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Community Trust NA raised its stake in Planet Labs PBC by 275.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 22,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 16,594 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 5,339.2% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,591,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,769 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in Planet Labs PBC by 1,802.0% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 194,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,427,000 after acquiring an additional 183,808 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 3.5% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 580,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,226,000 after acquiring an additional 19,760 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Planet Labs PBC by 1.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 68,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Planet Labs PBC Company Profile

Planet Labs PBC is an Earth-imaging and geospatial data company that operates a constellation of satellites designed to provide frequent, high-resolution imagery of the planet. Its data is used to monitor changes in land, infrastructure, agriculture, forests, oceans and other environments.

The company’s products include PlanetScope, a satellite imagery service intended to provide frequent coverage of large areas; SkySat, which offers higher-resolution imagery and video capabilities; and other satellite and data products, including hyperspectral imaging initiatives.