Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from “strong buy” to “buy,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $126.71.
• Protagonist reported quarterly EPS of $2.29, narrowly beating estimates, while revenue reached $213.47 million—up 3,746.8% year over year.
• The stock opened at $145.87, near its 52-week high of $148.00. Insiders sold 102,000 shares worth about $10.4 million over the past three months, while institutional investors own 98.63% of the company.

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

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $130.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.71.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $145.87 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $50.49 and a 52 week high of $148.00. The stock has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 141.62 and a beta of 1.78. The company's 50-day moving average price is $124.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $213.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 102,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,436,340 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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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