Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Shares Bought by Inspire Investing LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 106.9%, acquiring an additional 11,279 shares, bringing its total holdings to 21,834 shares worth approximately $1,056,000.
• Notable institutional investor activity includes GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its stake by 153.3% and Smartleaf Asset Management LLC growing its stake by 141.7% during the first quarter.
• Protagonist Therapeutics' stock has seen analyst ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Hold", with an average price target of $67.73, despite a recent earnings miss reporting ($0.55) EPS against expectations of ($0.53).

Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 106.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,834 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,279 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,025.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 940,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,287,000 after purchasing an additional 909,998 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,575,015 shares of the company's stock worth $124,528,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares during the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11,271.9% in the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 348,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,834,000 after buying an additional 345,034 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $16,612,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,162,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PTGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $68.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 4.4%

NASDAQ PTGX traded up $2.59 on Thursday, hitting $61.81. 650,585 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 935,082. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.31 and a fifty-two week high of $62.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.13. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 88.07 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.02). The firm 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,518,632.34. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $540,952.50. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,859 shares of company stock valued at $3,687,577 over the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.