PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.50.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Leerink Partners started coverage on PTC Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered PTC Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on PTC Therapeutics from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PTC Therapeutics from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at PTC Therapeutics

In related news, insider Neil Almstead sold 24,613 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total value of $2,187,849.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,978.11. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael Schmertzler sold 12,500 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.32, for a total value of $916,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,374,094 shares in the company, valued at $100,748,572.08. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 162,669 shares of company stock valued at $13,208,674 over the last quarter. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTCT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,139,089,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in PTC Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $590,182,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 48.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,193,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $489,997,000 after buying an additional 2,342,101 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in PTC Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $140,520,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $118,462,000.

PTC Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PTCT stock opened at $65.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.55. PTC Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $57.74 and a 1 year high of $90.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.15.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $360.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.63 million. PTC Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 3.80% and a negative return on equity of 362.45%. The business’s revenue was up 101.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.83) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PTC Therapeutics will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About PTC Therapeutics

PTC Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for rare diseases. The company uses technologies involving RNA biology, gene therapy and small-molecule drug discovery to address conditions with limited treatment options, including rare neurological and metabolic disorders.

PTC’s commercial portfolio has included Translarna (ataluren), an investigational treatment in some markets for Duchenne muscular dystrophy associated with a nonsense mutation, and Emflaza (deflazacort), a corticosteroid approved in the United States for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.