Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Stock Price Down 7.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) shares fell 7.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $52.00 to $51.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Rocket Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $6.65 and last traded at $6.48. 484,777 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 1,421,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Chardan Capital cut their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rocket Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gaurav Shah bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 792,680 shares in the company, valued at $4,026,814.40. This represents a 2.59% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Aaron Ondrey sold 7,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total value of $39,616.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,650 shares in the company, valued at $685,848.50. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 28.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 33,166.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,996 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 4,108 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 51.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,385 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 159.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,475 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 3,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Institutional investors own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 8.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 6.05 and a quick ratio of 6.05. The company has a market cap of $646.06 million, a PE ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $7.00 and its 200 day moving average is $10.47.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.