Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Up 9.4% – Still a Buy?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares shot up 9.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $67.47 and last traded at $73.34. 105,184 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 943,995 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PTGX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Johnson Rice set a $74.00 price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.83.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.29 and a beta of 2.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day moving average of $53.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $1,214,678.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 548,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,197,016.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,130 shares in the company, valued at $329,602.50. This trade represents a 43.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,859 shares of company stock worth $3,944,577 in the last 90 days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 22.0% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.1% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 16.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is 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.