Clearbridge Investments LLC Buys Shares of 489,842 Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 489,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,783,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.78% of Protagonist Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 138.9% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total transaction of $7,509,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at $52,410,617.36. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Harold E. Selick sold 24,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $2,520,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 60,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,388,725. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 263,345 shares of company stock worth $26,707,266 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $105.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.49 and a beta of 1.85. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.38 and a 52-week high of $107.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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.