Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $21.43, but opened at $19.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rocket Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $18.67, with a volume of 302,016 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on RCKT. UBS Group dropped their target price on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gaurav Shah sold 9,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total value of $228,596.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 728,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,000,411.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Rocket Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Gaurav Shah sold 9,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total transaction of $228,596.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 728,069 shares in the company, valued at $17,000,411.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Militello sold 1,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total value of $25,194.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,185.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,282 shares of company stock valued at $2,551,801 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 31.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 56.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,022,830 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,880,373 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 174.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,606,016 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656,111 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,447,565 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,264,000 after purchasing an additional 843,552 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,017,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,072,910 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,155,000 after buying an additional 405,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.39 and a 200-day moving average of $26.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 10.47 and a quick ratio of 10.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.50 and a beta of 1.08.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.73) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a late-stage biotechnology company that focuses on developing gene therapies for rare and devastating diseases. It has three clinical-stage ex vivo lentiviral vector programs for fanconi anemia, a genetic defect in the bone marrow that reduces production of blood cells or promotes the production of faulty blood cells; leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, a genetic disorder that causes the immune system to malfunction; and pyruvate kinase deficiency, a rare red blood cell autosomal recessive disorder that results in chronic non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia.