Granahan Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 27,391 Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management opened a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics, buying 27,391 shares valued at about $2.89 million in the first quarter.
• Protagonist Therapeutics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.05 versus an expected loss and revenue of $56.37 million, far above analyst estimates.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on PTGX, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $123, while insiders have also been selling shares recently.

Granahan Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 27,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,887,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NEXTBio Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $20,055,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,924,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $42,783,000. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,305,000. Finally, Eagle Health Investments LP bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,005,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $136.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of -75.20 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.33. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.49 and a 1 year high of $143.29.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%.The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Equities research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PTGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,182,500. The trade was a 15.86% 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 link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total transaction of $7,509,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 161,130 shares of company stock worth $16,355,220 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

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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