Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.7692.

Several research analysts recently commented on PTGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $2,840,446.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 580,505 shares in the company, valued at $47,880,052.40. This represents a 5.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 8,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $708,338.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 78,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,439,790.96. This trade represents a 9.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,540 shares of company stock valued at $4,333,499. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 38,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,327,000 after buying an additional 8,674 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 2.0%

PTGX opened at $83.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 134.03 and a beta of 2.26. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $33.70 and a twelve month high of $96.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.85.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by ($0.03). Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 21.94%.The firm had revenue of $4.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.41 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: PTGX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally administered peptide-based therapies for immune-mediated and other serious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Peptide 2.0 platform to design peptides that target G protein–coupled receptors and cytokine receptors, with the goal of combining the potency of biologics with the convenience of oral administration. Protagonist’s approach aims to address unmet medical needs in areas where injectable therapies have been the standard of care.

Among its lead programs is PTG-100, an oral α4β7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.