Insider Selling: Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Insider Sells $1,571,850.00 in Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) insider Arturo Md Molina sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.79, for a total transaction of $1,571,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 84,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,814,410.85. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Arturo Md Molina also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 23rd, Arturo Md Molina sold 13,151 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total transaction of $1,083,905.42.
• On Tuesday, January 27th, Arturo Md Molina sold 5,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $410,000.00.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Arturo Md Molina sold 9,514 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $784,714.72.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $99.87 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.96. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.60 and a 1-year high of $105.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.72 and a beta of 2.23.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $7.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 19.89% and a negative net margin of 282.83%. Equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $699,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,567,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,935,000 after purchasing an additional 564,134 shares in the last quarter. KVP Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $4,629,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.