Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $142.19 and traded as high as $145.61. Protagonist Therapeutics shares last traded at $143.37, with a volume of 777,228 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PTGX. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $178.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Barclays upped their price objective 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, Zacks Research upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $163.27.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.20 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $142.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.32.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.03 million. The business’s revenue was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 65,761 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,055,804.58. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total transaction of $8,312,419.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,365,445.34. This trade represents a 49.84% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 283,629 shares of company stock valued at $41,443,786. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 205.9% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $89,000. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing peptide-based medicines for immune-mediated and hematologic diseases. The company uses its proprietary peptide technology platform to design therapies intended to act on specific biological pathways and receptors.

Its leading program is icotrokinra, also known as JNJ-2113, an oral, targeted inhibitor of the interleukin-23 receptor being developed in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals for inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions, including psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases.