HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $80.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on PTGX. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a 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. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $68.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $62.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.77 and a beta of 2.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.37 and its 200 day moving average is $51.29. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $33.31 and a 52-week high of $62.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.55 million for 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%. Analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total transaction of $570,533.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,518,632.34. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $237,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 9,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $540,952.50. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,859 shares of company stock valued at $3,687,577 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PTGX. Commodore Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $59,415,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,025.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 940,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,287,000 after buying an additional 909,998 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 218.0% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,092,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,369,000 after purchasing an additional 748,758 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 35.5% during the first quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,575,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,528,000 after purchasing an additional 675,000 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $29,311,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently 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.