Sei Investments Co. Buys 45,851 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Sei Investments increased its Protagonist Therapeutics stake by 122.8% in the first quarter, purchasing 45,851 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 83,197 shares valued at approximately $8.8 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $123; several firms reiterated Buy or Outperform ratings.
• Insiders sold 161,130 shares worth $16.4 million over the past three months, while PTGX recently reported quarterly revenue of $56.4 million and earnings per share of $0.05, exceeding analyst expectations.

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 122.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,197 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,851 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.13% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $8,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PTGX shares. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 price target on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,410,617.36. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 161,130 shares of company stock worth $16,355,220 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $136.64 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.23. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.49 and a 12 month high of $143.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.49 and a beta of 1.79.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Equities analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Protagonist Therapeutics Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: PTGX is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally administered peptide-based therapies for immune-mediated and other serious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Peptide 2.0 platform to design peptides that target G protein–coupled receptors and cytokine receptors, with the goal of combining the potency of biologics with the convenience of oral administration. Protagonist's approach aims to address unmet medical needs in areas where injectable therapies have been the standard of care.

Among its lead programs is PTG-100, an oral α4β7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

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