23,473 Shares in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Acquired by Calamos Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Calamos Advisors LLC disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, buying 23,473 shares valued at about $2.47 million.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $119.21, though opinions remain mixed across firms.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including the CEO and a director; meanwhile, the company beat expectations in its latest quarter with $0.05 EPS and $56.37 million in revenue.

Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,474,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,603 shares of the company's stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,760 shares of the company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,959 shares of the company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PTGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $119.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total transaction of $7,509,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This trade represents a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 162,880 shares of company stock valued at $16,539,792 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

PTGX stock opened at $135.46 on Thursday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.49 and a 52 week high of $141.10. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of -74.84 and a beta of 1.79. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $112.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.04.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. On average, analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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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