PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $85.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.14% from the stock’s current price.

PTCT has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of PTC Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America decreased their price target on PTC Therapeutics from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $94.00 price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

PTC Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTCT traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.60. 144,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,234,775. PTC Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $43.17 and a 12 month high of $87.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of -30.06, a PEG ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.53.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.42. The business had revenue of $272.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.42 million. PTC Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 362.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 43.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that PTC Therapeutics will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PTC Therapeutics

In other PTC Therapeutics news, insider Neil Gregory Almstead sold 52,003 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $3,590,287.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,151,858.48. The trade was a 46.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew B. Klein sold 12,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.95, for a total value of $917,127.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 393,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,742,154.10. This trade represents a 3.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 115,022 shares of company stock valued at $7,925,979 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PTC Therapeutics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,803,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $668,691,000 after buying an additional 514,204 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,193,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $489,997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342,101 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 224,481 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in PTC Therapeutics by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $319,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,343 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in PTC Therapeutics by 27.5% during 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.

PTC Therapeutics Company Profile

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.