Checkpoint Capital L.P. Takes Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Checkpoint Capital L.P. has purchased a significant stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, acquiring 175,184 shares valued at approximately $8.47 million, making it the firm's 6th largest position.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Hsbc Holdings PLC and Bank of America Corp DE, have also increased their holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Despite the recent insider selling activity, analysts generally maintain a positive outlook with an average rating of "Buy" and a price target of around $67.20 for the stock.

Checkpoint Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 175,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,000. Protagonist Therapeutics comprises 4.6% of Checkpoint Capital L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Checkpoint Capital L.P. owned 0.28% of Protagonist Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 124,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,800,000 after acquiring an additional 8,576 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 628,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,263,000 after acquiring an additional 48,491 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 150,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,794,000 after acquiring an additional 12,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 134,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,206,000 after acquiring an additional 15,970 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total transaction of $570,533.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 520,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,518,632.34. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 83,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,784,360.76. This trade represents a 10.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,859 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,877 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 1.3%

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $58.11 on Thursday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.31 and a 52 week high of $61.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.02 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.02). Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 24.88%.The business had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PTGX. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $67.20.

Protagonist Therapeutics Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.

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