HighTower Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics, purchasing 6,518 shares valued at approximately $315,000 during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of Protagonist Therapeutics, with significant recent changes in holdings, including GAMMA Investing LLC raising its position by 153.3%.
• The company received updates from analysts, with one research firm upgrading the stock to a "hold" and others providing target prices indicating potential growth, reflecting an average consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $67.20.

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 38.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.0% in the first 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, Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities lifted their target price 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, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 520,603 shares in the company, valued at $28,518,632.34. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 83,892 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 76,859 shares of company stock worth $4,257,877 in the last quarter. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTGX opened at $58.85 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $54.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.59. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.31 and a 1-year high of $61.89. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.07 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 24.88%.The company had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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