Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $52.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RCKT. Chardan Capital reiterated a buy rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $52.29.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.6 %

Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $20.17 on Tuesday. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.55 and a fifty-two week high of $32.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 7.79 and a quick ratio of 7.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.54.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.82) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Andrew White sold 3,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.39, for a total value of $61,700.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,472,565.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 31.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 174.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,606,016 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,447,565 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,264,000 after acquiring an additional 843,552 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,072,910 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,155,000 after acquiring an additional 405,855 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,943,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,290,000 after acquiring an additional 314,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 123.6% during the second quarter. First Turn Management LLC now owns 560,989 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,078,000 after acquiring an additional 310,119 shares during the period. 98.39% of the stock is currently owned by 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.