Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,809 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 201.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 9,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $784,714.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 97,266 shares in the company, valued at $8,022,499.68. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,438 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 580,505 shares in the company, valued at $47,880,052.40. This represents a 5.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 52,540 shares of company stock valued at $4,333,499 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Johnson Rice set a $112.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.77.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $84.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 136.76 and a beta of 2.26. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.70 and a 1 year high of $96.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $86.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.47.

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

Protagonist Therapeutics 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 ?4?7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.