Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5.7% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 367,822 shares worth about $38.8 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors controlling 98.63% of PTGX shares. Several large funds, including Janus Henderson, Wellington Management, and Vanguard, also increased positions.
• Insiders have been selling stock recently, including two directors whose trades contributed to 162,880 shares sold over the last three months. Despite that, analysts remain generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $123 price target.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 367,822 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,890 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $38,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $231,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,160 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% in the fourth 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% during the 4th 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. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $72,114,000. Finally, Commodore Capital LP purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,415,000. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.14, for a total transaction of $3,605,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,786,395.50. The trade was a 56.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 162,880 shares of company stock worth $16,539,792. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PTGX. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

PTGX stock opened at $140.91 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.49 and a fifty-two week high of $141.10. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.85 and a beta of 1.79. The business's 50 day moving average price is $113.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.64.

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