Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Down 4.8% Following Insider Selling

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 4.8% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $52.00 and last traded at $52.34. Approximately 259,594 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 839,935 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.99.

Specifically, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 17,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.79, for a total value of $959,920.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 531,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,094,476.22. The trade was a 3.19% 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 company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $1,214,678.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 548,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,197,016.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 12,859 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $705,444.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 570,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,303,280.58. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.10.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 2.6%

The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.53 and a beta of 2.26. The business's fifty day moving average price is $52.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $28.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.44 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 9.22%. Research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,099 shares of the company's stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 928,286 shares of the company's stock worth $35,832,000 after purchasing an additional 353,511 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $336,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 26,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 576,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,271,000 after purchasing an additional 65,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

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.