Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Price

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) had its target price increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $95.00 to $118.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

PTGX has been the topic of several other research reports. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $69.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.64.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $83.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 133.95 and a beta of 2.26. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $33.70 and a 12 month high of $96.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $86.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.13.

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

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $2,840,446.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 580,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,880,052.40. This trade represents a 5.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 13,151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total transaction of $1,083,905.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 84,115 shares in the company, valued at $6,932,758.30. This represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 165,167 shares of company stock worth $13,732,039 over the last quarter. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,196,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,601,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,461 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 24.7% in the second quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 3,211,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,474,000 after acquiring an additional 636,026 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,281,000 after purchasing an additional 500,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,770,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,934,000 after purchasing an additional 874,013 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.