JMP Securities Issues Positive Forecast for Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Price

Key Points

• JMP Securities has raised its price target for Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) from $67.00 to $69.00, indicating a potential upside of 29.17% based on the stock's previous close.
• Multiple firms have shown positive sentiment towards PTGX, with Citigroup maintaining an "outperform" rating and HC Wainwright issuing a price target of $80.00.
• Protagonist Therapeutics recently reported a quarterly loss of ($0.55) EPS, missing estimates, while experiencing significant insider sales totaling $4,020,877 within the last 90 days.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) had its target price upped by JMP Securities from $67.00 to $69.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the stock.

PTGX has been the subject of a number of other reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Two investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.20.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 2.8%

PTGX traded up $1.46 during trading on Thursday, hitting $52.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 281,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 943,819. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.11 and a beta of 2.33. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $33.31 and a twelve month high of $60.60. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $53.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.43.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 10.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total value of $570,533.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares in the company, valued at $28,518,632.34. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,859 shares of company stock worth $4,020,877. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 201.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 609 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

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.