Insider Selling: Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Director Sells 24,000 Shares of Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Director Harold Selick sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $2,520,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,388,725. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 3.1%

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $98.97 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $88.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.34. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.60 and a 12-month high of $105.69. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.28 and a beta of 2.23.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.16). Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 282.83% and a negative return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on PTGX shares. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.31.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $699,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,567,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,935,000 after purchasing an additional 564,134 shares in the last quarter. KVP Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,629,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.