Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $113.00 to $119.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.87% from the company’s previous close.

PTGX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.77.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock traded up $5.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $102.70. 215,703 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 754,789. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.45. Protagonist Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $39.60 and a fifty-two week high of $101.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.10 and a beta of 2.23.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.16). Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 19.89% and a negative net margin of 282.83%.The firm had revenue of $7.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.92 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.13, for a total transaction of $3,840,855.39. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 60,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,014,401.60. The trade was a 43.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lewis T. Williams sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total transaction of $1,483,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,936.50. This represents a 69.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,167 shares of company stock worth $16,889,199. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTGX. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,160 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,832,000 after buying an additional 1,156,461 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,114,000. Finally, Commodore Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,415,000. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

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 α4β7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.