PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded PTC Therapeutics from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $98.55.
• PTC Therapeutics reported quarterly EPS of $0.92, beating estimates of $0.24, while revenue reached $360.52 million, up 101.5% year over year and above analyst expectations.
• The stock opened at $69.82, below its 50-day moving average of $77.62 and 200-day average of $72.35; insiders have sold approximately $16.8 million of shares over the past three months.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on PTC Therapeutics from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.55.

PTC Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTCT opened at $69.82 on Friday. PTC Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $48.28 and a 1-year high of $90.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PTC Therapeutics

In related news, insider Neil Gregory Almstead sold 2,464 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 60,299 shares in the company, valued at $5,441,984.75. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, Director Michael Schmertzler sold 12,500 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.32, for a total transaction of $916,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,374,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,748,572.08. This trade represents a 0.90% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 205,343 shares of company stock valued at $16,774,704. Insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 40,858 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,103,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in PTC Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,191,000. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 146.5% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 80,794 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,137,000 after purchasing an additional 48,015 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,859,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,658,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $125,978,000 after purchasing an additional 73,803 shares during the period.

PTC Therapeutics Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source