Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Receives $137.86 Consensus PT from Analysts

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.5333.

Several brokerages recently commented on PTGX. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ PTGX opened at $158.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.00 and a beta of 1.78. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $54.50 and a twelve month high of $158.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $130.98 and a 200 day moving average of $108.30.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 65,761 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was 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 owned 523,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,055,804.58. This represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This trade represents a 53.49% 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. Insiders have sold 127,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,818,139 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 283.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 134,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 99,269 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $987,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 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.