Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ (RCKT) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) in a report released on Friday morning,RTT News reports. They currently have a $16.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on RCKT. Bank of America upgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $4.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rocket Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.60.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.9%

RCKT traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.17. 2,118,380 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,428,885. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $2.19 and a 12-month high of $17.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.44 and a 200 day moving average of $3.83. The company has a current ratio of 6.39, a quick ratio of 6.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $342.06 million, a P/E ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 0.70.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.03. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS. Analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Elisabeth Bjork purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.41 per share, with a total value of $34,100.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $136,400. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan David Schwartz sold 11,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total value of $33,706.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,094 shares in the company, valued at $676,763.88. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,368 shares of company stock worth $221,675. 24.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 15.3% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,852 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 22,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 3,220 shares during the last quarter. 98.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.