PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on PTC Therapeutics, with 10 buy, one strong-buy, two hold and two sell ratings. The average 12-month price target is $98.50, above the stock’s reported price of $66.48.
• PTC Therapeutics exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.92 in adjusted earnings per share versus a $0.24 consensus estimate and $360.52 million in revenue, up 101.5% year over year.
• Company insiders sold shares worth approximately $16.8 million over the past three months, including sales by the CEO and a vice president under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans; insiders currently own 5.3% of the company.

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.50.

PTCT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at PTC Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Matthew B. Klein sold 10,292 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 383,868 shares in the company, valued at $26,321,828.76. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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. Also, VP Mark Boulding sold 2,813 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total value of $204,139.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 105,272 shares in the company, valued at $7,639,589.04. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,566 shares of company stock worth $16,769,079. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PTC Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PTCT. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in PTC Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $193,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in PTC Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new stake in PTC Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $753,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in PTC Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $263,000.

PTC Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6%

PTCT opened at $66.48 on Tuesday. PTC Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $57.74 and a 12-month high of $90.87. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $73.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.17. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.62, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) last released 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. PTC Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 362.45% and a negative net margin of 3.80%.The firm had revenue of $360.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 101.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that PTC Therapeutics will post 1.17 EPS for the current 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.

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