Fred Alger Management LLC Invests $362,000 in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC invested approximately $362,000 in Protagonist Therapeutics, acquiring 7,477 shares in the first quarter, indicating growing interest from institutional investors in the biotech company.
• Wall Street analysts generally maintain a positive outlook on Protagonist Therapeutics, with several firms raising their price targets; for example, JMP Securities increased their target from $67.00 to $69.00.
• Insider trading activity includes significant sales by Director William D. Waddill and CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel, suggesting some shifts in ownership, although company insiders still hold a notable 4.90% of the stock.

Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 24.2% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $237,000.00. Following the sale, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total value of $570,533.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 520,603 shares in the company, valued at $28,518,632.34. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,859 shares of company stock worth $3,687,577 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $57.74 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $55.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.34. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.31 and a 1-year high of $61.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 82.49 and a beta of 2.22.

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

Protagonist Therapeutics Company 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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