Evercore ISI Downgrades Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) to In-Line

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Evercore ISI from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $5.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 101.61% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on RCKT. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $19.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Chardan Capital cut their target price on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $46.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.21.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of RCKT stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $2.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,402,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,878,766. The company has a quick ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $2.19 and a 12-month high of $26.98. The company has a market capitalization of $264.83 million, a P/E ratio of -0.90 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $6.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.45.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.58) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.66) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gaurav Shah acquired 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 792,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,026,814.40. The trade was a 2.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kinnari Patel acquired 21,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.70 per share, with a total value of $99,165.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 26,774 shares in the company, valued at $125,837.80. The trade was a 371.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 24.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 33,166.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,996 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 319.8% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 3,745 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,385 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 159.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,475 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC grew its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.39% of the company's stock.

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.