Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,891,527 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,546 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $304,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in 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 period. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 63.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,000. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PTGX shares. Wedbush increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $121.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $138.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.60 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $119.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.00. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.49 and a 1 year high of $143.29.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $52,410,617.36. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at $922,880.50. The trade was a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 161,130 shares of company stock valued at $16,355,220 over the last quarter. 5.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.