PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Shares Up 8.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• PTC Therapeutics shares jumped 8.3% in Wednesday trading, reaching an intraday high of $79.60 after closing at $73.27 the previous day.
• Recent analyst sentiment is mostly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.36. Several firms reiterated or raised targets, including Barclays at $120 and Morgan Stanley at $94.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.03 per share on revenue of $272.55 million, well above analyst estimates and up 43.5% year over year.

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) shares shot up 8.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $79.60 and last traded at $79.3320. 861,446 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 1,304,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PTCT shares. Wall Street Zen cut PTC Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on PTC Therapeutics from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded PTC Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.36.

PTC Therapeutics Stock Up 7.7%

The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.98.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.42. The company 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%.The firm's revenue was up 43.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that PTC Therapeutics, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PTC Therapeutics

In other PTC Therapeutics news, VP Mark Elliott Boulding sold 3,540 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.97, for a total transaction of $279,553.80. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 105,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,308,591.64. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Neil Gregory Almstead sold 52,003 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total value of $3,590,287.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,151,858.48. This trade represents a 46.37% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 98,148 shares of company stock valued at $7,001,475 over the last 90 days. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 101.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 96.5% in the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 868.5% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 523 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000.

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.

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