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

Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) gapped down before the market opened 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 traded.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gaurav Shah sold 9,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was 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 owns 728,069 shares in the company, valued at $17,000,411.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Gaurav Shah sold 9,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was 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 owns 728,069 shares in the company, valued at $17,000,411.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Andrew White sold 12,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.64, for a total value of $308,788.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 75,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,568.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,282 shares of company stock valued at $2,551,801 in the last ninety days. 31.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RCKT. Annandale Capital LLC bought a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 105.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Old Well Partners LLC bought a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,653 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

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

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.85 EPS for the current year.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.