Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.75 Million Investment in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics, buying 26,100 shares worth about $2.75 million in the first quarter.
• Institutional interest in PTGX remains high, with large investors like Millennium Management and others adding to their stakes; institutions now own 98.63% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: several firms raised price targets, and the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $115.21, while shares recently traded at $121.88.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 26,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,751,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PTGX. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company's stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company's stock worth $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 283.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 134,269 shares of the company's stock worth $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 99,269 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $987,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. The trade was a 53.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.47, for a total transaction of $184,572.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,223,046.41. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 162,880 shares of company stock worth $16,539,792 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PTGX. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $121.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.34 and a beta of 1.86. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $49.38 and a one year high of $126.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.70 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

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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