Empowered Funds LLC Makes New $4.96 Million Investment in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC has acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., purchasing approximately $4.96 million worth of shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Wellington Management Group and BVF Inc. IL, have significantly increased their stakes in Protagonist Therapeutics, showcasing strong interest from the investment community.
• Protagonist Therapeutics recently reported a net revenue of $5.55 million for the last quarter, which was below analysts' expectations of $8.32 million, leading to an EPS miss of $0.02.

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 102,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,958,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.17% of Protagonist Therapeutics as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RTW Investments LP raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,498,545 shares of the company's stock worth $212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 72,433 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,277,218 shares of the company's stock worth $206,846,000 after acquiring an additional 57,181 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.5% in the first quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,575,015 shares of the company's stock worth $124,528,000 after acquiring an additional 675,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 987,370 shares of the company's stock worth $47,749,000 after acquiring an additional 47,293 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 16.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 859,648 shares of the company's stock worth $41,573,000 after acquiring an additional 120,696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total value of $237,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,130 shares in the company, valued at $540,952.50. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total transaction of $1,214,678.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 548,538 shares in the company, valued at $30,197,016.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,859 shares of company stock worth $3,687,577. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock traded up $2.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.14. 217,232 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 932,460. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.07. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.31 and a 52-week high of $61.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.54 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PTGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.08.

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.