Investors Purchase High Volume of Rocket Pharmaceuticals Call Options (NASDAQ:RCKT)

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 2,414 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 426% compared to the average daily volume of 459 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kinnari Patel purchased 21,099 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.70 per share, for a total transaction of $99,165.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,774 shares in the company, valued at $125,837.80. The trade was a 371.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Aaron Ondrey sold 7,489 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total transaction of $39,616.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,848.50. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 24.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of RCKT. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 33,166.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,996 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 83.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 4,108 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 51.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,385 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,475 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 3,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $69,000. 98.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 62.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:RCKT opened at $2.33 on Wednesday. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $2.19 and a 52 week high of $26.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a current ratio of 6.05. The company has a market capitalization of $248.81 million, a PE ratio of -0.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.73.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.58) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.66) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Rocket Pharmaceuticals will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RCKT shares. Chardan Capital raised their price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.73.

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.