Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Downgraded by Needham & Company LLC to “Hold”

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) was downgraded by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on RCKT. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Chardan Capital upped their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.73.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of RCKT stock traded down $3.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.48. The stock had a trading volume of 22,012,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,608,252. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $2.06 and a 1-year high of $26.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.68 and its 200-day moving average is $9.78. The firm has a market cap of $264.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91 and a beta of 1.02.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.58) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.66) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kinnari Patel acquired 21,099 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.70 per share, for a total transaction of $99,165.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,837.80. This trade represents a 371.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gaurav Shah purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 792,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,026,814.40. This represents a 2.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 24.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 33,166.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,996 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 83.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 51.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,385 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 159.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,475 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

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.