Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) posted its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $2.07, Zacks reports. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.56. 230,875 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 543,087. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 2.22. Protagonist Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $24.22 and a fifty-two week high of $48.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,687,299.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 435,208 shares in the company, valued at $20,437,367.68. This trade represents a 15.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Suneel Gupta sold 103,437 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $4,762,239.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 256,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,794,250.96. The trade was a 28.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 213,316 shares of company stock worth $9,816,345 over the last quarter. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.