Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $2.14 Million Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 53.6%, now holding about 0.07% of the company, valued at $2.14 million.
• Protagonist Therapeutics reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($0.55) per share, below the consensus estimate, with total revenue of $5.55 million.
• The company has received a mix of ratings from analysts, with projections set at an average price target of $67.20 and a consensus rating of "Buy".

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 53.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,257 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,210 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $2,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 5,930,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,898,000 after acquiring an additional 69,000 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,498,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 72,433 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,277,218 shares of the company's stock worth $206,846,000 after purchasing an additional 57,181 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,900,015 shares of the company's stock worth $73,341,000 after purchasing an additional 49,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deep Track Capital LP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,600,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:PTGX traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.23. The stock had a trading volume of 680,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,695. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $54.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.80. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.31 and a 1-year high of $61.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.97 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.02). Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $5.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 83,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,784,360.76. This represents a 10.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total value of $570,533.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,518,632.34. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 76,859 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,877. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.20.

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.