Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Johnson Rice restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PTGX opened at $121.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of -67.34 and a beta of 1.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.18. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $49.38 and a twelve month high of $126.25.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.70 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.47, for a total transaction of $184,572.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,223,046.41. This represents a 2.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 162,880 shares of company stock valued at $16,539,792 in the last quarter. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTGX. NEXTBio Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $20,055,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,924,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,196,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,601,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 21.0% in the third quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC now owns 478,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,781,000 after acquiring an additional 83,030 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Health Investments LP bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,005,000. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.