Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Stock Holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,694 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.11% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $2,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total transaction of $217,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,302.50. The trade was a 23.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.73, for a total transaction of $1,462,553.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,689,477.33. This trade represents a 28.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,585,010. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTGX opened at $46.95 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 2.30. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.22 and a 1 year high of $60.60.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%. The company had revenue of $170.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.65 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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.