Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Earns Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on RCKT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $2.95 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Chardan Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.12.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:RCKT opened at $2.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 9.24 and a quick ratio of 9.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.61 million, a PE ratio of -14.60 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $3.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.42. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $2.46 and a 1 year high of $5.45.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The biotechnology company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.22. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. Analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -1.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Rocket Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Christopher Stevens sold 36,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.50, for a total value of $128,303.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 505,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,770,244. This represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Martin Wilson sold 75,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.40, for a total value of $256,237.60. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 598,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,034,862.60. This represents a 11.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 125,977 shares of company stock valued at $432,273 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCKT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $33,940,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 42.0% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,567,372 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,262 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $8,483,000. Opaleye Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 1,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,420,000 after purchasing an additional 45,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $2,512,000. 98.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc NASDAQ: RCKT is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for rare and devastating diseases. The company uses both ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy and in vivo adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy approaches to address conditions with limited or no effective treatment options.

Rocket's development programs have included marnetegragene autotemcel (RP-L102) for leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, a rare inherited immune disorder; RP-A501 for Danon disease, a genetic heart condition; RP-A601 for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy associated with PKP2 mutations; and RP-L301 for pyruvate kinase deficiency, an inherited blood disorder.