Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Now Covered by Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays has initiated coverage of Protagonist Therapeutics with an "overweight" rating and a price target of $72.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.89% from its previous close.
• Other analysts have rated Protagonist Therapeutics positively, with an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $68.08.
• The company reported weaker-than-expected earnings, with a net revenue of $5.55 million for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations of $8.32 million.

Analysts at Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.89% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on PTGX. Leerink Partnrs raised Protagonist Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities increased their price objective on 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 issued 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $68.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PTGX opened at $58.59 on Wednesday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $33.31 and a 12 month high of $61.89. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.70 and a beta of 2.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.07.

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

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $540,952.50. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $1,214,678.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 548,538 shares in the company, valued at $30,197,016.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,859 shares of company stock worth $3,687,577. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 347,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,786,000 after buying an additional 9,286 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,933,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,458 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,582 shares of the company's stock worth $947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $593,000. 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.

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