Sovran Advisors LLC Sells 127,063 Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RCKT

Key Points

• Sovran Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 39.3%, selling 127,063 shares and now holding approximately 196,028 shares worth $480,000.
• Multiple institutional investors have shown interest in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, with Goldman Sachs increasing its holdings by 24% and California State Teachers Retirement System raising theirs by 5.5%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Rocket Pharmaceuticals, with target prices ranging from $5.00 to $30.00, but the average target price is currently around $16.73.

Sovran Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,028 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 127,063 shares during the quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RCKT. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,404 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 63,778 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 19,310 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $151,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 5,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 88.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 41,142 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 19,326 shares during the last quarter. 98.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on RCKT. Scotiabank cut their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $19.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $8.00 price target (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.73.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ RCKT traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.22. The company had a trading volume of 316,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,556,497. The firm has a market capitalization of $347.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 6.39 and a current ratio of 6.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.61. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2.19 and a 52 week high of $19.87.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Rocket Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel Martin Wilson sold 12,109 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $413,903.08. The trade was a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elisabeth Bjork bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.41 per share, for a total transaction of $34,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 40,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $136,400. This represents a 33.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,927 shares of company stock worth $111,413 over the last ninety days. 24.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.