Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Stock Price

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $52.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 346.81% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of RCKT opened at $9.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.78. The company has a market cap of $856.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 0.98. 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 twelve month low of $9.22 and a twelve month high of $31.24.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.68) by $0.06. As a group, analysts predict that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,995,177 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $175,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,753,033 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,577,595 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $82,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,655 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 4,493,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,001,000 after acquiring an additional 165,911 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,118,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,072,000 after acquiring an additional 190,360 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,004,039 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.