Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Price Up 9.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Protagonist Therapeutics' stock price increased by 9.4%, closing at $73.34 after trading as high as $67.47 on Friday.
• Wall Street analysts have a predominately positive outlook on the stock, with ratings indicating strong buy and price targets ranging from $72 to $80.
• Insider trading activity has seen significant sales, with CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel selling over 22,000 shares, reducing personal ownership by 3.87%.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) shares rose 9.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $67.47 and last traded at $73.34. Approximately 105,184 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 943,995 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PTGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays began coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $74.00 price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.83.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.80. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 128.35 and a beta of 2.20.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $5.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 548,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,197,016.90. This represents a 3.87% 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 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total transaction of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,130 shares in the company, valued at $329,602.50. This trade represents a 43.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,859 shares of company stock worth $3,944,577 over the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.9% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 305,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,289,000 after purchasing an additional 25,065 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 53.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,648 shares of the company's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $519,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,576 shares of the company's stock worth $2,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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