Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 19,890 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 367,822 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,890 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $38,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on PTGX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $119.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 6.7%

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $140.91 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.49 and a 52-week high of $141.10. The company has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.85 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.64.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.70 million. Research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 31,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,182,500. This trade represents a 15.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.47, for a total transaction of $184,572.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,223,046.41. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,880 shares of company stock valued at $16,539,792. 5.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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