Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stock Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.7% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 581,083 shares worth about $61.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with analysts issuing several buy/overweight calls and an average rating of “Moderate Buy”; the consensus price target is $115.21.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Dinesh V. Patel’s sale of 75,000 shares and Director Bryan Giraudo’s sale of 6,000 shares, while the company also recently beat earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 581,083 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 51,452 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.91% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $61,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,196,006 shares of the company's stock worth $411,601,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $472,832,000 after buying an additional 1,156,461 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $177,281,000 after buying an additional 500,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,770,021 shares of the company's stock worth $241,934,000 after acquiring an additional 874,013 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Johnson Rice restated a "buy" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.21.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,182,500. This trade represents a 15.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,880 shares of company stock valued at $16,539,792. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $121.63 on Tuesday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.38 and a 1 year high of $126.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.45. The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.20 and a beta of 1.86.

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

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.

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