Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Invests $519,000 in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 171.0% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 201.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 609 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 141.7% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director William D. Waddill sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.62, for a total transaction of $979,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $418,710.60. This represents a 70.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PTGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $69.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $88.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.20 and a beta of 2.19. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.70 and a 12-month high of $96.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.53.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by ($0.03). Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.41 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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.