Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Price Target Raised to $190.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $178.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 28.60% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PTGX. Wedbush upped their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research cut Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.13.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $147.75 on Tuesday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $54.50 and a 52 week high of $160.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $139.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 143.45 and a beta of 1.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $213.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This trade represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,239 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.52, for a total transaction of $5,085,176.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,746,952.56. The trade was a 6.14% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 118,000 shares of company stock worth $16,921,379. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.8% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.