Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 857,602 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 57.6%, selling 857,602 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 631,893 shares worth approximately $30.56 million.
• Institutions currently own 98.63% of Protagonist Therapeutics' stock, with significant increases in holdings from US Bancorp DE and XTX Topco Ltd in the same quarter.
• Protagonist Therapeutics' stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus target price of $66.10, following positive earnings that exceeded estimates.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 57.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 631,893 shares of the company's stock after selling 857,602 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.02% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $30,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 22,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.10.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PTGX stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.83. The company had a trading volume of 600,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,844. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $60.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.75. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.77 and a beta of 2.33.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $28.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 27.04%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 83,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,784,360.76. This trade represents a 10.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,518,632.34. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,859 shares of company stock valued at $4,020,877 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

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.