Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $112.77 and last traded at $112.46, with a volume of 536301 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $109.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PTGX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.13 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.42.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.70 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total transaction 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 approximately $52,410,617.36. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total transaction of $969,120.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,596. This represents a 53.49% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 272,345 shares of company stock valued at $27,676,386. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.8% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.