Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Protagonist Therapeutics shares gapped down ahead of trading on Wednesday, dropping from a previous closing price of $76.94 to an opening price of $75.29, following insider selling by Director William D. Waddill.
• Waddill sold 12,000 shares at an average price of $81.62, marking a 70.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock.
• Despite recent insider sales, analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with the company holding an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $72.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $76.94, but opened at $75.29. Protagonist Therapeutics shares last traded at $76.01, with a volume of 52,181 shares.

Specifically, Director William D. Waddill sold 12,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.62, for a total transaction of $979,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $418,710.60. This trade represents a 70.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partners started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3%

The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.73 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.48.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 305,419 shares of the company's stock worth $20,289,000 after acquiring an additional 25,065 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $519,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in 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. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,519,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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