Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Trading Down 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) dropped 4.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $4.63 and last traded at $4.6550. Approximately 1,022,204 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 2,528,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on RCKT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals to $3.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $5.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised Rocket Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.79.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.2%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a current ratio of 6.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $501.05 million, a P/E ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 0.39.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.04. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.62) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gaurav Shah sold 12,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.31, for a total transaction of $40,643.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,052,045 shares in the company, valued at $3,482,268.95. This represents a 1.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Martin Wilson sold 12,253 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.31, for a total value of $40,557.43. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 683,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,261,974.56. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,415 shares of company stock worth $97,398. Company insiders own 24.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RCKT. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 8,363,813 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,491,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164,595 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 12.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,892,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,469,000 after purchasing an additional 769,743 shares during the period. MPM Bioimpact LLC grew its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the second quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 3,903,081 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,284,816 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 52.0% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,570,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,639,000 after buying an additional 1,221,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM increased its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 2,987,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,485,000 after buying an additional 95,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing gene therapies for rare, inherited pediatric diseases. The company employs a proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV) and lentiviral vector platform to deliver functional copies of genes in patients with genetic deficiencies. Its programs target a spectrum of disorders, including Fanconi anemia, leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I and Danon disease, with the goal of delivering one-time treatments that address the underlying causes of disease rather than merely managing symptoms.

The company’s pipeline comprises multiple product candidates in various stages of development.