Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics to “strong buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Buy,” with an average price target of $154.44. Leerink Partners also raised its target to $190, and Citigroup increased its target to $182.
• PTGX shares opened at $138.49, down 4.4%, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.96 billion. The company recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.29 in EPS and $213.47 million in revenue, up 3,746.8% year over year.
• Insiders sold substantial shares: executives sold 283,629 shares worth about $41.4 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 98.63% of the company.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Leerink Partners reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 target price on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $138.49 on Monday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $73.08 and a 12 month high of $160.81. The company has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 140.66 and a beta of 1.53. The business's 50 day moving average is $145.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.41.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protagonist Therapeutics 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 owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at $78,055,804.58. This trade represents a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total value of $8,312,419.62. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: PTGX is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide-based medicines for chronic immune-mediated and hematologic diseases. The company uses its proprietary technology platform to design peptides intended to selectively interact with disease-relevant biological targets.

Protagonist's pipeline includes icotrokinra, formerly known as JNJ-2113, an investigational oral peptide that selectively targets the interleukin-23 receptor.

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