Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PTGX. Wedbush boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $121.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.93.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $137.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.04 and a beta of 1.79. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $50.49 and a 12 month high of $141.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.80.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. Research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.14, for a total transaction of $3,605,040.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,395.50. The trade was a 56.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 162,880 shares of company stock valued at $16,539,792 in the last ninety days. 5.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $89,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 63.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

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.