Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from buy to strong-buy, adding to a generally bullish analyst backdrop for the stock.
• Several firms recently raised their views and price targets, including Barclays at $151 and Wolfe Research at $135; overall, the stock now has a Moderate Buy consensus and a $123 average price target.
• PTGX traded up 0.5% to $136.11 and reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $0.05 versus an expected loss and revenue of $56.37 million versus estimates of $11.70 million.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on PTGX. Wedbush increased their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $119.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 0.5%

PTGX opened at $136.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.33. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $50.49 and a 1 year high of $143.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.20 and a beta of 1.79.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%.The company had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 36,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.14, for a total transaction of $3,605,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,395.50. The trade was a 56.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 161,130 shares of company stock valued at $16,355,220 over the last 90 days. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $231,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,160 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company's stock worth $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company's stock worth $472,832,000 after buying an additional 1,156,461 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $72,114,000. Finally, Commodore Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $59,415,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: PTGX is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally administered peptide-based therapies for immune-mediated and other serious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Peptide 2.0 platform to design peptides that target G protein–coupled receptors and cytokine receptors, with the goal of combining the potency of biologics with the convenience of oral administration. Protagonist's approach aims to address unmet medical needs in areas where injectable therapies have been the standard of care.

Among its lead programs is PTG-100, an oral α4β7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

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