Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $112.00 to $178.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Protagonist Therapeutics traded as high as $158.95 and last traded at $158.62, with a volume of 506956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.10.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on PTGX. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 price target on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.52, for a total transaction of $5,085,176.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,746,952.56. This trade represents a 6.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 127,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,818,139 over the last three months. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $30,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.43 and a beta of 1.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $132.99 and its 200 day moving average is $109.36.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.