Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Shares Sold by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Key Points

• Moody Aldrich Partners reduced its Protagonist Therapeutics stake by 26.8% in the third quarter, selling 15,952 shares and retaining 43,649 shares valued at approximately $6.15 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 98.63%, with major investors including BlackRock, Janus Henderson, Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America holding or adding significant positions.
• Protagonist reported better-than-expected quarterly results, while analysts maintained a bullish outlook: the stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $163.27 versus its reported price of $142.14.

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 26.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,649 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,952 shares during the period. Protagonist Therapeutics accounts for approximately 1.2% of Moody Aldrich Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $6,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,263,535,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,891,527 shares of the company's stock worth $304,866,000 after acquiring an additional 241,546 shares during the last quarter. Johnson & Johnson acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $300,220,852. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $261,039,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $162,357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ PTGX opened at $142.14 on Thursday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.44 and a 1-year high of $160.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.00 and a beta of 1.53. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $143.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.82.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total transaction of $8,312,419.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,003 shares in the company, valued at $8,365,445.34. The trade was a 49.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 65,761 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.11, for a total transaction of $9,805,622.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,055,804.58. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 283,629 shares of company stock worth $41,443,786. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $153.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $163.27.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing peptide-based medicines for immune-mediated and hematologic diseases. The company uses its proprietary peptide technology platform to design therapies intended to act on specific biological pathways and receptors.

Its leading program is icotrokinra, also known as JNJ-2113, an oral, targeted inhibitor of the interleukin-23 receptor being developed in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals for inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions, including psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases.

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