Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Now Covered by Analysts at Leerink Partners

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.

Equities research analysts at Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners' price target indicates a potential upside of 20.76% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $68.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PTGX traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.45. The stock had a trading volume of 405,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 933,973. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.07. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $33.31 and a twelve month high of $61.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.55 and a beta of 2.22.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.02). Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total transaction of $1,214,678.25. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $237,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,130 shares in the company, valued at $540,952.50. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,859 shares of company stock worth $3,687,577. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commodore Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,415,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,025.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 940,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,287,000 after buying an additional 909,998 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 218.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,092,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,369,000 after buying an additional 748,758 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,575,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,528,000 after buying an additional 675,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,311,000. 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.