Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals from “hold” to “sell.” Despite the cut, analyst opinion overall remains “hold,” with a consensus price target of $7.77.
• Shares opened at $2.30 and were down 3.8%; the stock’s 12-month range is $2.16 to $5.45.
• Rocket reported a quarterly loss of $0.43 per share, missing analyst expectations of a $0.40 loss.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on RCKT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $7.00 to $4.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.77.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.8%

Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $2.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $252.49 million, a PE ratio of -15.33 and a beta of 0.51. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $2.16 and a 12 month high of $5.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $2.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.39. The company has a current ratio of 9.24, a quick ratio of 9.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.03). Analysts anticipate that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rocket Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel Martin Wilson sold 75,364 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.40, for a total transaction of $256,237.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 598,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,862.60. This represents a 11.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 83,160 shares of company stock worth $277,472 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCKT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $33,940,000. Monaco Asset Management SAM purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $8,483,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 42.0% during the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,567,372 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $12,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,262 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,512,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.39% of the company's stock.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing gene therapies for rare, serious diseases, with a focus on inherited disorders that often affect children. Its research programs use lentiviral and adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector technologies to deliver therapeutic genes to patients' cells. The company's pipeline has included programs targeting conditions such as Fanconi anemia, leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, pyruvate kinase deficiency, Danon disease and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.

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