Insider Selling: Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Insider Sells 15,000 Shares of Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) insider Arturo Md Molina sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.79, for a total value of $1,571,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 84,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,814,410.85. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Arturo Md Molina also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 23rd, Arturo Md Molina sold 13,151 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $1,083,905.42.
• On Tuesday, January 27th, Arturo Md Molina sold 5,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $410,000.00.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Arturo Md Molina sold 9,514 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $784,714.72.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of PTGX opened at $98.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.28 and a beta of 2.23. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.60 and a 52-week high of $105.69.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $7.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 19.89% and a negative net margin of 282.83%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,160 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,977 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,461 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $72,114,000. Finally, Commodore Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $59,415,000. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PTGX. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.31.

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.