Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after JMP Securities raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $25.79, but opened at $27.08. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Protagonist Therapeutics shares last traded at $25.79, with a volume of 129,002 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.34, for a total transaction of $406,636.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,080. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.34, for a total transaction of $406,636.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,080. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 30,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $948,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 574,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,168,535.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,457 shares of company stock worth $2,553,328. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTGX. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 12.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 4,529 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 179.8% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 55,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 35,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $3,299,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 2.09.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $60.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.00 million. Equities analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.