Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Holdings Raised by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 25,400 shares valued at about $2.22 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 98.63% of PTGX shares held by institutions, while insiders own about 5.19%. Recent insider selling included director Bryan Giraudo and insider Arturo Md Molina, with $27.3 million in insider stock sold over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on PTGX, with 13 Buy ratings and a consensus target price of $113.69. The company also recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.05 EPS versus an expected loss and revenue of $56.37 million versus forecasts of $11.70 million.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,400 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 138.9% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $87,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,825 shares in the company, valued at $3,182,500. This represents a 15.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.79, for a total value of $1,571,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 84,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,814,410.85. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 272,345 shares of company stock valued at $27,294,066. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.69.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $102.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.45 and a beta of 1.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.47. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.04 and a fifty-two week high of $107.84.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%. Analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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