Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.0769.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PTGX shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2%

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $92.36 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.79. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.05 and a beta of 2.23. Protagonist Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $39.60 and a twelve month high of $98.32.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $7.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 282.83% and a negative return on equity of 19.89%. Equities analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.68, for a total transaction of $1,673,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,796. This represents a 71.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 13,151 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $1,083,905.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 84,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,932,758.30. This represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,167 shares of company stock valued at $16,889,199. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 283.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 134,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 99,269 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 43.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 7,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.