Leerink Partnrs Upgrades Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) to Strong-Buy

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Protagonist Therapeutics’ Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.60) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.61) EPS and FY2025 earnings at ($1.95) EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PTGX. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $58.86 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $33.31 and a 1 year high of $61.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.09 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced 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). Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 24.88%.The company had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total transaction of $1,214,678.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 548,538 shares in the company, valued at $30,197,016.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $237,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,952.50. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,859 shares of company stock worth $3,687,577. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 347,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,786,000 after buying an additional 9,286 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $593,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.