Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT)

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $52.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on RCKT. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Chardan Capital reissued a buy rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $52.29.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RCKT opened at $20.17 on Tuesday. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.55 and a 12-month high of $32.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of -7.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 7.79, a current ratio of 7.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.02). During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.82) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Andrew White sold 3,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.39, for a total value of $61,700.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 72,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,472,565.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 31.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 174.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,606,016 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,447,565 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,264,000 after buying an additional 843,552 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,072,910 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,155,000 after buying an additional 405,855 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,943,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $79,290,000 after acquiring an additional 314,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC grew its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 123.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Turn Management LLC now owns 560,989 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,078,000 after acquiring an additional 310,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.