VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $1.37 Million Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 11,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,373,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $153.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.13.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 2.1%

PTGX opened at $148.18 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.90 and a 12-month high of $160.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.14 and a 200-day moving average of $116.95. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.87 and a beta of 1.80.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 29.40%.The business had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. Protagonist Therapeutics’s revenue was up 3746.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director William Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 65,761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.11, for a total transaction of $9,805,622.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at $78,055,804.58. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 234,000 shares of company stock valued at $34,192,827. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide-based medicines for immune-mediated diseases and hematologic disorders. The company uses its peptide discovery and development platform to create therapies designed to selectively modulate disease-related biological pathways.

Protagonist’s pipeline has included icotrokinra (also known as JNJ-2113), an oral peptide that targets the interleukin-23 receptor and is being developed for inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.