Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RCKT Shares Bought by Baker BROS. Advisors LP

Key Points

• Baker BROS. Advisors LP significantly increased its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 1,030.1%, acquiring over 1 million additional shares, bringing its total ownership to about 1.03% valued at roughly $7.3 million.
• Insider sales occurred recently, with Jonathan David Schwartz selling 11,161 shares and Martin Wilson selling 12,109 shares, indicating a decrease in their respective positions.
• Rocket Pharmaceuticals has received mixed analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.73, despite a recent 2.1% drop in stock price to $3.28.

Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) by 1,030.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,097,079 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP owned about 1.03% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals worth $7,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 83.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 4,108 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $69,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $139,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $80,000. 98.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan David Schwartz sold 11,161 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total transaction of $33,706.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 224,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $676,763.88. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Martin Wilson sold 12,109 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total transaction of $36,569.18. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 137,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $413,903.08. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,927 shares of company stock worth $111,413 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 24.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RCKT. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.73.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.1%

RCKT opened at $3.28 on Tuesday. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2.19 and a twelve month high of $22.01. The company has a quick ratio of 6.39, a current ratio of 6.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.30. The company has a market cap of $353.91 million, a PE ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 0.62.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.