PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $36.19, but opened at $39.40. PTC Therapeutics shares last traded at $39.92, with a volume of 455,281 shares trading hands.

The biopharmaceutical company reported $10.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $9.19. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.16 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.20) earnings per share. PTC Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $67.00) on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America raised shares of PTC Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of PTC Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on PTC Therapeutics from $70.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.92.

Insider Transactions at PTC Therapeutics

In other news, EVP Lee Scott Golden sold 795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.10, for a total transaction of $39,829.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,900,585.60. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Allan Steven Jacobson sold 1,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total value of $63,369.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,959.36. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,305 shares of company stock valued at $1,682,755 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,178,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $414,332,000 after buying an additional 53,688 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $148,363,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,325,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $105,015,000 after buying an additional 455,698 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 150.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,443,362 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,153,000 after buying an additional 867,502 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,077,794 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $48,652,000 after buying an additional 273,638 shares during the last quarter.

PTC Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.16 and a beta of 0.52.

About PTC Therapeutics

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.