Asif Ali Sells 46,203 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) CFO Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.13, for a total transaction of $3,840,855.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 60,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,014,401.60. The trade was a 43.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Asif Ali also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 20th, Asif Ali sold 8,588 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $708,338.24.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $81.76 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 131.87 and a beta of 2.26. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.70 and a 1 year high of $96.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.48.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by ($0.03). Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $4.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.41 million. Equities research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Protagonist Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Protagonist Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: several brokerages have raised price targets or reiterated buy/overweight ratings (Johnson Rice $112, Citizens Jmp $102, JPMorgan raised to overweight). That analyst momentum and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating help cushion downside. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company fundamentals and outlook remain mixed — recent quarterly results missed revenue and EPS expectations, but PTGX is a clinical‑stage biotech with late‑stage programs (PTG‑100) that could re‑rate the stock on positive clinical/data news. No new clinical readouts were announced today. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large, clustered insider sales — CEO Dinesh Patel sold multiple tranches (including 4,068 shares on Jan. 27 and larger sales earlier this week), CFO Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares (reducing his stake ~43%), and director/insider Arturo Molina sold >18k shares across days. These sizeable officer-level sales are being viewed negatively and likely pressured the stock today. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: The CFO’s SEC filing shows the large Jan. 27 sale (46,203 shares) and is particularly notable because a near‑half reduction by a finance officer can raise investor concern about insider conviction. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PTGX. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $69.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 283.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 134,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,493,000 after acquiring an additional 99,269 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.8% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

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.