Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Protagonist Therapeutics, with 16 buy ratings and two holds among 18 firms. The average 12-month price target is $147.13, while several analysts recently raised their targets.
• PTGX opened at $145.72, near its 52-week high of $160.81, and reported quarterly EPS of $2.29 versus the $2.27 consensus estimate. Revenue reached $213.47 million, up 3,746.8% year over year.
• Institutional ownership is substantial at 98.63%, with major investors including BlackRock and California State Teachers Retirement System increasing or initiating positions. Insiders sold $16.9 million of stock over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $147.1333.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wedbush increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 31st.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PTGX opened at $145.72 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $141.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.97. The company has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 141.48 and a beta of 1.80. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $54.50 and a 1 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $213.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.03 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm's revenue was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. The trade was a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,239 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.52, for a total transaction of $5,085,176.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,746,952.56. This represents a 6.14% 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 118,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,921,379 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $1,263,535,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 12,217.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,227,439 shares of the company's stock worth $885,939,000 after purchasing an additional 7,168,762 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company's stock worth $177,281,000 after purchasing an additional 500,924 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company's stock worth $276,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,891,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,866,000 after buying an additional 241,546 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.

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