Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics to “strong buy” from “hold.” Other analysts remain bullish, with the stock carrying a consensus “buy” rating and an average price target of $154.44.
• PTGX shares opened at $136.55, with a 52-week range of $73.08 to $160.81 and an $8.84 billion market capitalization. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.29 in EPS and $213.47 million in revenue.
• Insiders have sold 283,629 shares worth approximately $41.4 million over the past three months, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PTGX. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 31st. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $184.00 price target for the company. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of PTGX opened at $136.55 on Wednesday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $73.08 and a 52-week high of $160.81. The company has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 132.31 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.91.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,365,445.34. The trade was a 49.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 7,278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total value of $1,048,759.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,359,688.80. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 283,629 shares of company stock valued at $41,443,786 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 442.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $536,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,085 shares of the company's stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $296,000. 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 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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