Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from nine analysts, with a 1-year target price averaging $66.10.
• Insider trading activity includes the sale of 10,000 shares by insider Arturo Md Molina, valued at $570,300, and the sale of 22,065 shares by CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel, valued at over $1.2 million.
• The company recently reported earnings of ($0.19) per share, outperforming expectations and achieving a revenue of $28.32 million for the quarter.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.20.

PTGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,784,360.76. The trade was a 10.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,859 shares of company stock worth $4,020,877 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 201.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 609 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 worth $58,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

PTGX stock traded down $2.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.32. 605,792 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 947,652. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 68.21 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.05. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $33.31 and a 52 week high of $60.60.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 27.04%. The company had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. As a group, analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.