Leerink Partnrs Downgrades Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) to Hold

Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Rocket Pharmaceuticals' Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.56) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.54) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.52) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($2.20) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($1.94) EPS and FY2027 earnings at ($1.78) EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $19.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Leerink Partners reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $8.00 price objective (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.21.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of RCKT traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $2.76. 5,430,672 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,188,692. The stock has a market cap of $294.20 million, a PE ratio of -1.01 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $6.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.41. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $2.19 and a 12 month high of $26.98.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.58) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.66) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Aaron Ondrey sold 7,489 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total value of $39,616.81. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gaurav Shah bought 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.08 per share, with a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 792,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,026,814.40. The trade was a 2.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 24.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 99,339 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,422 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,826 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. 98.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.