Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Director Sells $969,120.00 in Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Director William Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total value of $969,120.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,596. The trade was a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX traded up $4.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $109.79. 564,069 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 544,673. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.11. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.66 and a beta of 1.85. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.38 and a fifty-two week high of $111.45.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%. Equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $113.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 283.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 134,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,493,000 after purchasing an additional 99,269 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $987,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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