D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 78.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,704 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,121 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 223.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 126,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,714,000 after acquiring an additional 87,755 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $1,700,850.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 83,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,676,140.08. The trade was a 26.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 1,756 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $80,776.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,808,990. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 61,173 shares of company stock valued at $3,461,180. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:PTGX traded up $1.83 on Thursday, hitting $47.58. The stock had a trading volume of 688,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,585. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 2.65. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $45.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.58. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.00 and a 52-week high of $60.60.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $28.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.44 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 28th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.44.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.