Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Stock Price

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Bank of America from $32.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential upside of 257.85% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on RCKT. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $8.00 price target (down from $37.00) on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $19.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.46.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RCKT traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.52. 16,739,717 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,791,944. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.73. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $2.19 and a 1 year high of $26.98. The company has a market cap of $268.57 million, a P/E ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a current ratio of 6.05.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.58) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Aaron Ondrey sold 7,489 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total transaction of $39,616.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $685,848.50. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gaurav Shah purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 $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. Insiders own 24.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RCKT. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,995,177 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $175,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753,033 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $32,267,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,004,039 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $50,343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106,699 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 3,163.9% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,569,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $19,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $18,428,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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