HC Wainwright Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock

Key Points

• HC Wainwright raised its price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $170 to $221 and maintained a Buy rating, implying 66.85% upside from the article’s cited share price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: the stock has a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $166.67, with 15 Buy, one Strong Buy, and one Hold rating.
• Protagonist beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $3.07 versus $2.50 expected and revenue of $274.41 million versus $238.49 million expected; shares nevertheless fell 2.1% on Friday to $132.46.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by HC Wainwright from $170.00 to $221.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. HC Wainwright's price target would indicate a potential upside of 66.85% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on PTGX. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $166.67.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of PTGX stock traded down $2.81 on Friday, hitting $132.46. 663,920 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 713,834. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 128.46 and a beta of 1.21. Protagonist Therapeutics has a one year low of $76.70 and a one year high of $160.81. The firm's 50 day moving average is $141.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.59.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.57. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 29.40%. The business had revenue of $274.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.49 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total value of $8,312,419.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,365,445.34. This represents a 49.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 7,278 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total transaction of $1,048,759.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,359,688.80. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 283,629 shares of company stock worth $41,443,786. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $1,263,535,000. Johnson & Johnson bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $300,220,852. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $261,039,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $162,357,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,783,000. 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.

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