Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Johnson Rice reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.69.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $99.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.90 and a beta of 1.89. Protagonist Therapeutics has a one year low of $42.85 and a one year high of $107.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.42.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. The company had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 54,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $5,518,741.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 524,938 shares in the company, valued at $53,018,738. The trade was a 9.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold E. Selick sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $2,520,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,845 shares in the company, valued at $6,388,725. This represents a 28.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 138,215 shares of company stock worth $13,866,186 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 22.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 508,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,542,000 after buying an additional 93,688 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 9,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $24,497,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 98,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,424,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.