Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) Shares Bought by Sovran Advisors LLC

Sovran Advisors LLC grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) by 114.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 323,091 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 172,324 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals worth $2,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 99,339 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $166,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 194,182 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 9,949 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 656,090 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,247,000 after acquiring an additional 86,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.39% of the company's stock.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ RCKT traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $2.59. 2,849,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,175,253. The company has a quick ratio of 9.19, a current ratio of 9.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2.19 and a 12-month high of $26.98. The company has a market cap of $276.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.85 and a 200 day moving average of $7.83.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.58) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.66) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aaron Ondrey sold 7,489 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 129,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $685,848.50. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gaurav Shah purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 792,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,026,814.40. This trade represents a 2.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 24.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $8.00 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $19.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Leerink Partnrs cut Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $5.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.60.

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.