Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX is BVF Inc. IL's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• BVF Inc. IL increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.5%, now owning 2,575,015 shares, making the stock its 6th largest position.
• Protagonist Therapeutics' stock rating has seen recent upgrades, with a consensus "Buy" rating and a price target of $67.20.
• Insider transactions included significant sales by directors, with William D. Waddill selling 4,000 shares for $237,000, indicating a 30.46% decrease in their ownership.

BVF Inc. IL raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 35.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,575,015 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares during the quarter. Protagonist Therapeutics accounts for 5.1% of BVF Inc. IL's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. BVF Inc. IL owned 4.15% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $124,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 81.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. 683 Capital Management LLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 22.0% in the first quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,180,000 after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $16,612,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $7,250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PTGX shares. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.20.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total transaction of $570,533.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,518,632.34. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total value of $237,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $540,952.50. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,859 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,877 in the last three months. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 7.6%

NASDAQ PTGX traded down $4.60 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $55.94. 694,780 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 931,876. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.12. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.31 and a 52-week high of $61.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.86 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 24.88%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Protagonist Therapeutics Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.