Woodline Partners LP Buys 315,372 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.2%, acquiring an additional 315,372 shares for a total of 897,699 shares valued at approximately $43.4 million.
• Protagonist Therapeutics' stock is currently valued at $56.19, having experienced a 7.2% decline recently, with a market capitalization of $3.50 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have given Protagonist Therapeutics an average rating of Buy, with a price target of $67.20, while the company reported a quarterly loss of ($0.55) earnings per share.

Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 54.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 897,699 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 315,372 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 1.45% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $43,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,025.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 940,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,287,000 after acquiring an additional 909,998 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.5% in the first quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,575,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,528,000 after acquiring an additional 675,000 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11,271.9% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 348,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,834,000 after acquiring an additional 345,034 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,612,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,162,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PTGX. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $67.73.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 1.4%

PTGX stock traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 685,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,797. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $55.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.77. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.31 and a 1 year high of $61.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.09 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 24.88%.The business had revenue of $5.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total value of $237,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $540,952.50. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $1,214,678.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 548,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,197,016.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,859 shares of company stock worth $3,687,577. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.