J.P. Morgan upgraded PTCT to "overweight" from "neutral"
The shares of PTC Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PTCT) are up 3.8% at $51.50 in pre-market trading, after J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "neutral," with an added price-target hike to $71 from $48. The firm noted that current shares do not reflect the biopharmaceutical company's Huntington's program or acquired gene therapy, and offer an attractive long-term entry-point.
Today's pop has PTC stock looking to topple pressure at the $51 level, which has rejected the stock's rallies since its late-July dip. Year-to-date, the stock is up around 6%.
Coming into today, analysts were already leaning bullish on PTCT, with six of the nine in coverage at a "buy" or better and the remaining three at a "hold." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $61.18 is a 23.3% premium to last night's close.
Lastly, though short interest has begun to fall off, down 21.2% during the last two reporting periods, the 4.96 million shares sold short still account for 7.6% of the stock's available float. In other words, it would take nearly seven days to buy back these bearish bets at PTC stock's average pace of trading.