Arizona State Retirement System Grows Position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,864 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,828 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 861.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 96.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,068 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,644 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.39% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ RCKT opened at $22.80 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.28. The company has a current ratio of 7.80, a quick ratio of 7.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of -7.76 and a beta of 1.07. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.89 and a 12 month high of $32.53.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.14. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.92) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Rocket Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director David P. Southwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.05, for a total value of $240,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 114,784 shares in the company, valued at $2,760,555.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David P. Southwell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.05, for a total value of $240,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 114,784 shares in the company, valued at $2,760,555.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Southwell sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.36, for a total transaction of $1,705,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,160 shares in the company, valued at $2,318,097.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 414,740 shares of company stock worth $11,474,727. Insiders own 31.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RCKT. Lifesci Capital reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rocket Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.13.

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.