Northern Trust Corp Increases Stake in PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 727,976 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,714 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.94% of PTC Therapeutics worth $32,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in PTC Therapeutics by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 424.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 645 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in PTC Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in PTC Therapeutics by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PTCT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PTC Therapeutics from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on PTC Therapeutics from $70.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded PTC Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy 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 $61.92.

Insider Transactions at PTC Therapeutics

In related news, Director Allan Steven Jacobson sold 1,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total value of $63,369.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $984,959.36. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christine Marie Utter sold 879 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.10, for a total transaction of $44,037.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 63,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,178,444.20. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,305 shares of company stock valued at $1,682,755. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PTC Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTCT traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.39. 1,078,746 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 856,310. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $48.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.10. PTC Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.72 and a fifty-two week high of $58.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.81 and a beta of 0.52.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $10.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $9.19. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $437.16 million. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.20) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that PTC Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PTC Therapeutics Company Profile

PTC Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of medicines to patients with rare disorders in the United States and internationally. The company offers Translarna and Emflaza for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; Upstaza to treat aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylas (AADC) deficiency, a central nervous system disorder; Tegsedi and Waylivra for the treatment of rare diseases; and Evrysdi to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in adults and children.