Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Trading Up 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) shot up 5.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $33.85 and last traded at $33.1130. Approximately 15,195,562 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 13,829,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PL shares. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Planet Labs PBC from $36.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Planet Labs PBC from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Planet Labs PBC has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.11.

Planet Labs PBC Trading Up 5.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of -29.05 and a beta of 1.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $94.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.39 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 105.29% and a negative net margin of 111.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 42.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Planet Labs PBC news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of Planet Labs PBC stock in a transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert H. Schingler sold 73,683 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total transaction of $2,584,062.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 256,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,995,034.16. The trade was a 22.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 16.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Planet Labs PBC by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,358,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,750,000 after purchasing an additional 806,818 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Planet Labs PBC by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,820,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,704,000 after buying an additional 20,400 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 worth $151,429,000 after buying an additional 5,851,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,702,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,475,000 after buying an additional 71,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,137,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,599,000 after buying an additional 301,757 shares in the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Planet Labs PBC Company Profile

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.