Velan Capital Investment Management LP Sells 234,643 Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RCKT

Velan Capital Investment Management LP lessened its stake in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) by 79.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 60,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 234,643 shares during the quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP’s holdings in Rocket Pharmaceuticals were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $25,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals by 94.4% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 12,202 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 5,926 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 98.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RCKT opened at $3.86 on Thursday. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.53 and a fifty-two week high of $5.45. The stock has a market cap of $423.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.71 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 9.24 and a current ratio of 9.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.63.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The biotechnology company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.22. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.62) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on RCKT. Chardan Capital started coverage on Rocket Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Wedbush cut their price target on Rocket Pharmaceuticals from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Rocket Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Christopher James Stevens sold 36,658 shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.50, for a total transaction of $128,303.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 505,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,770,244. The trade was a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 50,613 shares of company stock worth $176,035 over the last 90 days. 21.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing gene therapies for rare, inherited pediatric diseases. The company employs a proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV) and lentiviral vector platform to deliver functional copies of genes in patients with genetic deficiencies. Its programs target a spectrum of disorders, including Fanconi anemia, leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I and Danon disease, with the goal of delivering one-time treatments that address the underlying causes of disease rather than merely managing symptoms.

The company’s pipeline comprises multiple product candidates in various stages of development.