Nantahala Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RCKT

Key Points

• Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired 629,749 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc., valued at approximately $4.2 million, increasing its ownership to about 0.59% of the company.
• During the first quarter, other hedge funds, including Signaturefd LLC and HSBC, also adjusted their stakes in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, with institutional investors now owning 98.39% of the company's stock.
• Rocket Pharmaceuticals reported a loss of ($0.59) earnings per share for the latest quarter, missing analysts' estimates and leading to a downward revision in target prices by several investment firms.

Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 629,749 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,200,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC owned about 0.59% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RCKT. Suvretta Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $32,267,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,004,039 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $50,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106,699 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 3,163.9% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,569,823 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $19,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,727 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,827,000. Finally, Prosight Management LP increased its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 583.1% during the 4th quarter. Prosight Management LP now owns 1,088,706 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,685,000 after buying an additional 929,337 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.39% of the company's stock.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $3.23. 1,612,642 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,687,925. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.19 and a fifty-two week high of $22.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $348.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.29 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 6.39, a quick ratio of 6.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.27.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.02). During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.74) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan David Schwartz sold 11,161 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total value of $33,706.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 224,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at $676,763.88. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Elisabeth Bjork purchased 10,000 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.41 per share, with a total value of $34,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $136,400. This represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 36,927 shares of company stock worth $111,413 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 24.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RCKT. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Leerink Partners reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $8.00 price target (down from $37.00) on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.73.

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.