Analysts Set Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Price Target at $115.21

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.2143.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Johnson Rice restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of PTGX opened at $95.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.32. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $49.38 and a twelve month high of $107.84. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of -52.71 and a beta of 1.85.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%.The firm had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.70 million. Analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,765 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.24, for a total value of $2,581,503.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 60,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,332,892.72. This represents a 28.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.14, for a total transaction of $3,605,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,395.50. This trade represents a 56.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 263,345 shares of company stock valued at $26,707,266 in the last 90 days. 5.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.6% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by 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.