Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Shares Sold by State of Wyoming

Key Points

• Wyoming cut its Protagonist Therapeutics stake by 91.6% in the third quarter, selling 13,172 shares and retaining 1,202 shares worth about $169,000.
• Institutional investors own 98.63% of the stock. Company insiders sold 217,868 shares worth about $31.6 million over the past 90 days; the CFO’s reported sale was made under a pre-arranged trading plan.
• Analysts have a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $166.67. The company also beat quarterly estimates, reporting $3.07 in earnings per share versus the $2.50 consensus and revenue of $274.41 million.

State of Wyoming lowered its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 91.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,202 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,172 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming's holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,263,535,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in 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 period. Johnson & Johnson bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $300,220,852. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $261,039,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $162,357,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total value of $8,312,419.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,365,445.34. This represents a 49.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 7,278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total transaction of $1,048,759.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 522,968 shares in the company, valued at $75,359,688.80. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 217,868 shares of company stock worth $31,638,164. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $166.67.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ PTGX opened at $132.04 on Monday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.70 and a twelve month high of $160.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50 day moving average is $141.52 and its 200 day moving average is $117.83.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $274.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.49 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 48.62% and a net margin of 62.04%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops peptide-based medicines, primarily for inflammatory and blood disorders. Its research approach uses engineered peptides designed to act on specific biological targets.

The company's programs include rusfertide, a hepcidin mimetic being developed for polycythemia vera, and icotrokinra, an oral interleukin-23 receptor antagonist being developed for immune-mediated diseases. Protagonist has entered into licensing and development collaborations for these programs with Takeda and Johnson & Johnson, respectively; they are investigational medicines, not approved treatments.

Founded in 2006 and based in Newark, California, Protagonist is led by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Dinesh V.

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