Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Rating Cut to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from “strong buy” to “buy,” though broader analyst sentiment remains favorable: 17 analysts rate the stock Buy and one rates it Hold, with a consensus price target of $147.13.
• PTGX was trading at $143.73, near its 52-week high of $160.81, after reporting quarterly EPS of $2.29 versus the $2.27 estimate and revenue of $213.47 million, up 3,746.8% year over year.
• Insiders sold approximately $41.4 million of stock over the past three months, while institutional investors own 98.63% of the company; BlackRock and Johnson & Johnson were among recent major investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 31st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.13.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PTGX opened at $143.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.68. The company has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.55 and a beta of 1.53. Protagonist Therapeutics has a one year low of $65.75 and a one year high of $160.81.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.03 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 65,761 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,055,804.58. This represents a 11.16% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 283,629 shares of company stock worth $41,443,786. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $1,263,535,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,891,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,866,000 after acquiring an additional 241,546 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,220,852. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $261,039,000. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,350,425 shares of the company's stock worth $117,946,000 after acquiring an additional 320,291 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

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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