Leerink Partners Initiates Coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Key Points

• Leerink Partners has initiated coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics with an "outperform" rating and a price target of $73.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.32% from its previous close.
• Protagonist Therapeutics recently reported a net loss of ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing estimates and generating revenue of $5.55 million, below the expected $8.32 million.
• A majority of analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Protagonist Therapeutics, with an average price target of $67.73, reflecting positive market sentiment about the company's future.

Stock analysts at Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.32% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on PTGX. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $67.73.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $59.68 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $55.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.51. Protagonist Therapeutics has a one year low of $33.31 and a one year high of $61.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.26 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $540,952.50. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $1,214,678.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 548,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,197,016.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,859 shares of company stock valued at $3,687,577 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 201.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 609 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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