PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Stock Price Down 5.6% on Insider Selling

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT)’s stock price dropped 5.6% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $74.71 and last traded at $74.1090. Approximately 173,406 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,209,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.50.

Specifically, CEO Matthew B. Klein sold 3,428 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.07, for a total value of $271,051.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 349,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,671,653.48. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTCT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $70.00 price objective on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of PTC Therapeutics from $63.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PTC Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded PTC Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PTC Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

PTC Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.81.

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.20 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.39) EPS. PTC Therapeutics’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that PTC Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PTC Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTCT. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in PTC Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $97,252,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of PTC Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $51,427,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of PTC Therapeutics by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,419,172 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $276,161,000 after buying an additional 632,049 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PTC Therapeutics by 654.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 636,502 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,087,000 after buying an additional 552,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in PTC Therapeutics by 22.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,996,454 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $146,347,000 after buying an additional 541,558 shares in the last quarter.

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.