Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.03, Zacks reports. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.71) earnings per share.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of RCKT stock traded down $0.06 on Friday, hitting $3.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,118,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,428,885. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $2.19 and a twelve month high of $17.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 6.39 and a current ratio of 6.39. The firm has a market cap of $342.06 million, a P/E ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $3.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rocket Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel Martin Wilson sold 12,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total transaction of $36,569.18. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 137,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,903.08. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Militello sold 28,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.96, for a total transaction of $114,515.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 67,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,343.76. The trade was a 30.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,368 shares of company stock valued at $221,675. Insiders own 24.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MPM Bioimpact LLC grew its holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the 2nd quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 3,903,081 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,284,816 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 690.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,548,262 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352,469 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,097,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 889,231 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 121.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 747,147 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,983,000 after purchasing an additional 410,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCKT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $4.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.60.

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.