Rocket Pharmaceuticals' (RCKT) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Chardan Capital

Key Points

• Chardan Capital has reaffirmed a "Buy" rating for Rocket Pharmaceuticals (RCKT) with a price target of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 156.71% from its current price of $4.29.
• Despite the positive rating from Chardan, other brokerages have reduced their price targets, with Canaccord Genuity and UBS setting targets of $10.00 and $5.00 respectively.
• The stock experienced a trading increase of 23.5%, reaching a market price of $4.29, with significant trading volume of over 7.4 million shares.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Chardan Capital in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $11.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. Chardan Capital's price target indicates a potential upside of 156.71% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on RCKT. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $5.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $4.00 to $10.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.67.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 23.5%

Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.29. The stock had a trading volume of 7,495,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,527,613. The stock has a market cap of $462.35 million, a PE ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 0.60. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $2.19 and a 12 month high of $18.89. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $3.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 6.39 and a quick ratio of 6.39.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.74) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan David Schwartz sold 11,161 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total transaction of $33,706.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 224,094 shares in the company, valued at $676,763.88. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elisabeth Bjork purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was acquired 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 owned 40,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $136,400. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,450 shares of company stock valued at $107,159 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 24.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,885 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,388 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,852 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. 98.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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