Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Trading Down 8.7% – What’s Next?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) was down 8.7% on Monday . The company traded as low as $55.40 and last traded at $55.29. Approximately 299,371 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 929,011 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PTGX. Wall Street Zen raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.20.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.62 and a beta of 2.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.02). Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The business had revenue of $5.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total value of $237,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,952.50. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 10,415 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.78, for a total transaction of $570,533.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 520,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,518,632.34. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,859 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,877 over the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 201.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 609 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.