Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,489,495 shares of the company's stock after selling 325,201 shares during the period. Protagonist Therapeutics makes up approximately 0.3% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.50% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $57,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total value of $1,700,850.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 83,892 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,140.08. The trade was a 26.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 1,756 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $80,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 61,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,808,990. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,532 shares of company stock worth $3,665,786. Insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ PTGX traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $44.49. The company had a trading volume of 644,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 2.65. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $47.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.65. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.00 and a 12 month high of $60.60.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $28.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. On average, research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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.