Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Stock: Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Stake

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its Protagonist Therapeutics stake by 16.9% in the third quarter, selling 95,867 shares and retaining 472,123 shares valued at about $66.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment remained positive: one analyst rated PTGX a Strong Buy and 16 rated it Buy, with an average price target of $166.67.
• Protagonist reported quarterly EPS of $3.07, beating the $2.50 consensus, and revenue of $274.4 million, above expectations of $238.5 million.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 16.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 472,123 shares of the company's stock after selling 95,867 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.73% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $66,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PTGX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $1,263,535,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,891,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,866,000 after purchasing an additional 241,546 shares during the period. Johnson & Johnson bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $300,220,852. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $261,039,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $162,357,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PTGX. Citigroup boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $166.67.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $135.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.19 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $141.35 and a 200 day moving average of $118.09. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.00 and a fifty-two week high of $160.81.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.57. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 29.40%. The business had revenue of $274.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.49 million. Analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 7,278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total value of $1,048,759.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,359,688.80. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total value of $8,312,419.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,365,445.34. This trade represents a 49.84% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 183,629 shares of company stock valued at $26,552,987 over the last three months. 5.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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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