Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Earns "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Free Report) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $53.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on RCKT. Lifesci Capital restated an outperform rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals to a sell rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $52.13.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ RCKT traded down $0.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.42. 856,332 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 721,299. The business's fifty day moving average is $28.00 and its 200 day moving average is $25.15. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $14.89 and a fifty-two week high of $32.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.31 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 7.80 and a current ratio of 7.80.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.14. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.92) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Pharmaceuticals

In other Rocket Pharmaceuticals news, Director Gotham Makker sold 274,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.43, for a total value of $7,789,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 365,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,402,878.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider John Militello sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $69,969.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,552,215.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gotham Makker sold 274,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.43, for a total transaction of $7,789,820.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 365,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,402,878.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 322,208 shares of company stock worth $9,220,239. Insiders own 31.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,447,565 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $163,264,000 after purchasing an additional 843,552 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,197,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $245,680,000 after buying an additional 174,716 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 594,665 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $17,822,000 after buying an additional 64,946 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 31,184 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 3,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.39% of the company's stock.

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.