PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $72.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.57, but opened at $45.45. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PTC Therapeutics shares last traded at $52.17, with a volume of 138,606 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PTC Therapeutics from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of PTC Therapeutics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $32.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $47.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Pierre Gravier sold 1,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.10, for a total value of $58,516.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,710.30. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerome B. Zeldis sold 24,000 shares of PTC Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $1,236,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $746,750. The trade was a 62.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,590 shares of company stock worth $11,264,023. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PTCT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,178,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $414,332,000 after purchasing an additional 53,688 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new stake in PTC Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $148,363,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,899,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $107,554,000 after buying an additional 149,700 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in PTC Therapeutics by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,325,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $105,015,000 after acquiring an additional 455,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,798,666 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $66,743,000 after acquiring an additional 10,886 shares during the last quarter.

PTC Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.30 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.17.

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.