Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX Stock Position Cut by Inspire Investing LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC reduced its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.6% during the second quarter, owning 7,284 shares valued at approximately $403,000.
• Protagonist Therapeutics received mixed reviews from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.83.
• Insider trading activity included the sale of 4,000 shares by Director William D. Waddill for $257,000, representing a 43.81% decrease in his stock ownership.

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 66.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,284 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,550 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC's holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PTGX. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Johnson Rice set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.83.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,602.50. This trade represents a 43.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $1,214,678.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 548,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,197,016.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,859 shares of company stock worth $3,944,577. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PTGX opened at $87.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 124.29 and a beta of 2.20. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $60.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.10. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.31 and a twelve month high of $93.25.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company 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.

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