2,449,183 Shares in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Purchased by Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,449,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $300,220,852. Protagonist Therapeutics comprises 0.0% of Johnson & Johnson's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Johnson & Johnson owned approximately 3.81% of Protagonist Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company's stock worth $472,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,461 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $177,281,000 after purchasing an additional 500,924 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company's stock worth $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,891,527 shares of the company's stock worth $304,866,000 after acquiring an additional 241,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,770,021 shares of the company's stock worth $241,934,000 after buying an additional 874,013 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $130.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group raised Protagonist Therapeutics to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.53.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX traded down $6.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $143.15. 247,735 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 714,563. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $137.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.27. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.50 and a 52-week high of $160.81. The firm has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.98 and a beta of 1.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company's revenue was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at $922,880.50. This trade represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 65,761 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.11, for a total transaction of $9,805,622.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,055,804.58. This represents a 11.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 118,000 shares of company stock worth $16,921,379. 5.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company 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.