PTC Therapeutics, Inc. $PTCT Position Raised by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group increased its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, holding 1,658,481 shares worth about $126 million and making PTCT its 12th largest position.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Jefferies cut PTCT to hold and lowered its price target to $76, while other firms such as Raymond James and Truist remained positive. The stock currently carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $88.36.
• PTC Therapeutics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.03 per share and revenue of $272.55 million, up 43.5% year over year. However, insiders have recently sold shares, including CEO Matthew B. Klein and VP Mark Elliott Boulding.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,658,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 73,803 shares during the quarter. PTC Therapeutics makes up about 0.6% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.07% of PTC Therapeutics worth $125,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in PTC Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $8,919,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 40,858 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Sector Gamma AS increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 28.0% during the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 118,112 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,249,000 after purchasing an additional 25,862 shares during the period. Brummer Multi Strategy AB acquired a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $1,175,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $1,863,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTCT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on PTC Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PTC Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $91.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on PTC Therapeutics from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised PTC Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PTC Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Matthew B. Klein sold 12,572 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.95, for a total transaction of $917,127.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 393,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,742,154.10. The trade was a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 Elliott Boulding sold 3,540 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.97, for a total value of $279,553.80. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 105,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,308,591.64. The trade was a 3.26% 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. Insiders sold 115,022 shares of company stock valued at $7,925,979 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

PTC Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PTCT opened at $68.81 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $69.00 and its 200-day moving average is $72.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.53. PTC Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $43.17 and a one year high of $87.50.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $272.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.42 million. PTC Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 362.45% and a negative net margin of 22.58%.PTC Therapeutics's revenue was up 43.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PTC Therapeutics, Inc. will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PTC Therapeutics 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.

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