Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Shares Acquired by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group increased its Protagonist Therapeutics stake by 49.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 296,101 additional shares and ending with 889,298 shares worth approximately $109 million. Institutional investors collectively own 98.63% of PTGX.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: PTGX has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with 16 of 18 analysts issuing Strong Buy or Buy ratings and an average price target of $140.53. Goldman Sachs raised its rating to Buy and lifted its target to $186.
• Protagonist reported quarterly EPS of $2.29, slightly above estimates, while revenue reached $213.47 million—up 3,746.8% year over year. The stock opened at $144.33, compared with a 52-week range of $54.50 to $160.81.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 49.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 889,298 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 296,101 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 1.37% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $109,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $30,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position 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 period. Greenline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $130.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $165.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.53.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX opened at $144.33 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $138.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.49. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.50 and a 1 year high of $160.81. The stock has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.13 and a beta of 1.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $213.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.03 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 65,761 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.11, for a total value of $9,805,622.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,055,804.58. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 118,000 shares of company stock worth $16,921,379 in the last quarter. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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