Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 767,219 Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RCKT

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has drastically decreased its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by selling 767,219 shares, reducing its holdings by 96.9% to a total of 24,658 shares valued at $164,000.
• Despite Russell's divestment, other hedge funds like Signaturefd LLC and Victory Capital Management Inc. have increased their positions in the company, indicating mixed investor sentiment.
• Bank of America has upgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating, raising its target price from $4.00 to $10.00, reflecting growing optimism among analysts about the company's prospects.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) by 96.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,658 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 767,219 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals were worth $164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares during the period. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $139,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $151,000. Institutional investors own 98.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Rocket Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,927 shares of company stock valued at $111,413 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 24.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RCKT. Bank of America upgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $4.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Leerink Partners restated a "market perform" rating and set a $8.00 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.73.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of RCKT stock opened at $3.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $349.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.29 and a beta of 0.62. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2.19 and a 52-week 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's 50 day moving average is $3.07 and its 200 day moving average is $5.28.

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

Rocket Pharmaceuticals 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.

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