Dinesh Ph Patel Sells 75,000 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) CEO Dinesh Ph Patel sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total transaction of $7,509,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 3.4%

PTGX traded down $3.55 on Tuesday, hitting $99.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 645,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,741. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.96. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.22 and a beta of 1.89. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.20 and a 12 month high of $107.84.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.70 million. Equities analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PTGX. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position 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. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,924,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2,043.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,740,000 after buying an additional 39,322 shares during the last quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC now owns 478,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,781,000 after buying an additional 83,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 90,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,000,000 after buying an additional 49,833 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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