PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PTCT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on PTC Therapeutics from $50.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $63.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $46.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

PTC Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTCT opened at $76.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.40. PTC Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $35.95 and a 1 year high of $87.50.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.19) by $1.39. PTC Therapeutics had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 194.11%. The company had revenue of $211.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.39) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PTC Therapeutics will post -4.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Neil Gregory Almstead sold 71,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.44, for a total value of $6,001,672.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 100,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,396,150. This trade represents a 41.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Allan Steven Jacobson sold 14,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.55, for a total transaction of $1,186,326.45. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,031.05. This represents a 44.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 357,284 shares of company stock valued at $25,734,846. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTCT. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,936 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 101.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 96.5% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 995 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 68.1% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 765 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period.

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.