PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $88.47 and last traded at $88.8390, with a volume of 367190 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $85.44.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PTCT. TD Cowen upgraded PTC Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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 research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PTC Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric Pauwels sold 21,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,595,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 73,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,505,825. The trade was a 22.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Neil Gregory Almstead sold 24,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $2,187,849.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 60,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,978.11. The trade was a 28.99% 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 have sold a total of 183,214 shares of company stock valued at $14,902,651 in the last three months. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting PTC Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting PTC Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) from “hold” to “strong-buy,” signaling improved confidence in the company’s earnings outlook and potentially helping support the stock. Zacks.com
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with several firms rating PTCT a buy or better and a consensus target price above current levels, which may reinforce investor optimism.
• Neutral Sentiment: PTC Therapeutics recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, which continues to provide a fundamental tailwind for the shares.
• Negative Sentiment: Vice President Mark Elliott Boulding sold 5,079 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, adding to recent insider selling and possibly creating some concern about insider confidence. PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) VP Mark Elliott Boulding Sells 5,079 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Another insider, Neil Gregory Almstead, sold a combined 46,774 shares over two transactions this week, which may be weighing on sentiment despite the sales being part of a 10b5-1 plan.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in PTC Therapeutics by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,803,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $668,691,000 after purchasing an additional 514,204 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,193,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $489,997,000 after buying an additional 2,342,101 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,918,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $301,856,000 after buying an additional 224,481 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,206,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $319,497,000 after buying an additional 1,071,343 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,138,215 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,339,000 after acquiring an additional 891,690 shares in the last quarter.

PTC Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.53.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.42. PTC Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 362.45%. The business had revenue of $272.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 43.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PTC Therapeutics, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About PTC Therapeutics

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.