Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Insider Arturo Md Molina Sells 5,000 Shares

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) insider Arturo Md Molina sold 5,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 84,115 shares in the company, valued at $6,897,430. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Arturo Md Molina also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 23rd, Arturo Md Molina sold 13,151 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $1,083,905.42.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Arturo Md Molina sold 9,514 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $784,714.72.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX opened at $83.08 on Wednesday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.70 and a fifty-two week high of $96.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $86.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.00 and a beta of 2.26.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by ($0.03). Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 21.94%.The business had revenue of $4.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.41 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Key Protagonist Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Protagonist Therapeutics this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CEO Dinesh V. Patel sold a total of 48,273 shares across three transactions (Jan. 23, Jan. 26 and Jan. 27) at prices between ~$83.19–$84.59, totaling roughly $4.06M. He still holds 574,505 shares. Large, repeated CEO sales may signal diversification or cashing-out at recent price levels and can be perceived negatively by the market. CEO filings
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares on Jan. 27 at an average price of $83.13 for about $3.84M, reducing his stake by ~43% to 60,320 shares. A CFO trimming nearly half of his position is a more notable red flag for investors because of the officer’s financial perspective and the size of the reduction. CFO filing
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Arturo Md Molina sold 13,151 shares on Jan. 23 (avg $82.42) and 5,000 shares on Jan. 27 (avg $82.00), totaling 18,151 shares and roughly $1.49M in proceeds; he retains 84,115 shares. Multiple insider sales by senior executives and directors can collectively amplify negative market perception. Insider filings

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 813,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,990,000 after purchasing an additional 128,171 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $6,641,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.9% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 305,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,289,000 after buying an additional 25,065 shares during the last quarter. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $7,464,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 74.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 30,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 12,871 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PTGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $69.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Johnson Rice set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.77.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: PTGX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally administered peptide-based therapies for immune-mediated and other serious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Peptide 2.0 platform to design peptides that target G protein–coupled receptors and cytokine receptors, with the goal of combining the potency of biologics with the convenience of oral administration. Protagonist’s approach aims to address unmet medical needs in areas where injectable therapies have been the standard of care.

Among its lead programs is PTG-100, an oral α4β7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.