Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Trading 5.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)’s stock price shot up 5.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $39.85 and last traded at $39.82. 127,334 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 553,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 4.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 2.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.83.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.05. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The business had revenue of $4.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.50 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,687,299.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 435,208 shares in the company, valued at $20,437,367.68. This represents a 15.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Suneel Gupta sold 103,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total transaction of $4,762,239.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 256,174 shares in the company, valued at $11,794,250.96. The trade was a 28.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 209,863 shares of company stock valued at $9,689,847. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. RTW Investments LP grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.6% in the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,426,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,175,000 after purchasing an additional 139,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,183,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,259,000 after buying an additional 1,101,218 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,876,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,432,000 after acquiring an additional 142,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,374,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,873,000 after acquiring an additional 3,528 shares during the period. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,268,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,962,000 after acquiring an additional 274,412 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.