PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Trading Up 6.9% – Still a Buy?

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT)’s share price shot up 6.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $67.16 and last traded at $67.16. 794,270 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 1,278,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on PTC Therapeutics from $93.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on PTC Therapeutics from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut PTC Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PTC Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.79.

PTC Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.72.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.67) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($1.46). The company had revenue of $164.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $281.45 million. PTC Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 362.45% and a net margin of 39.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.85) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PTC Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PTC Therapeutics

In other news, EVP Lee Scott Golden sold 10,000 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.38, for a total transaction of $633,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,066,850.72. The trade was a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric Pauwels sold 40,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total value of $3,039,074.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 70,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,308,235.39. This trade represents a 36.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,926 shares of company stock valued at $13,577,065. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,803,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $668,691,000 after acquiring an additional 514,204 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,918,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $301,856,000 after purchasing an additional 224,481 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in PTC Therapeutics by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,851,332 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $368,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077,776 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in PTC Therapeutics by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $319,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,138,215 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,339,000 after purchasing an additional 891,690 shares during the period.

About PTC Therapeutics

PTC Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule and biologic therapies for the treatment of rare genetic disorders. Since its founding in 1998, PTC has dedicated its efforts to addressing high unmet medical needs by targeting underlying genetic causes of disease. The company’s research platform emphasizes mechanisms such as nonsense suppression and RNA modulation, enabling the development of novel treatments for conditions with limited therapeutic options.

Among PTC’s approved products is Translarna (ataluren), a first-in-class therapy designed to treat nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy in select markets.