Wall Street Zen Upgrades PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded PTC Therapeutics to “strong-buy” from “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $98.50 target price.
• PTC reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.92 versus a $0.24 consensus and revenue of $360.52 million, up 101.5% year over year.
• PTCT opened at $65.37, below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages of roughly $72, while insiders sold about $15.1 million of stock over the past 90 days, primarily through pre-arranged trading plans.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PTCT. Zacks Research lowered shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PTC Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.50.

PTC Therapeutics Price Performance

PTCT opened at $65.37 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $72.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.10. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.71, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.55. PTC Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $57.74 and a 1 year high of $90.87.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 362.45% and a negative net margin of 3.80%.The business's revenue was up 101.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PTC Therapeutics will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PTC Therapeutics

In related news, insider Neil Almstead sold 2,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.25, for a total value of $222,376.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,441,984.75. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew B. Klein sold 10,292 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $705,722.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 383,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,321,828.76. This trade represents a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 186,418 shares of company stock worth $15,129,969. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTCT. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 634 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,257 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $112,000.

PTC Therapeutics Company Profile

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.

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