First Trust Advisors LP Has $9.26 Million Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 89.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 87,858 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,404 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $9,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,461 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,281,000 after buying an additional 500,924 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,770,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,934,000 after buying an additional 874,013 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,355,000 after buying an additional 1,549,160 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

PTGX opened at $136.64 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.49 and a fifty-two week high of $143.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.38 and a 200 day moving average of $103.23. The firm has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.49 and a beta of 1.79.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. The business had revenue of $56.37 million for 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PTGX. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wedbush upped their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,182,500. This represents a 15.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,130 shares of company stock valued at $16,355,220. 5.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.