Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $137.34, but opened at $141.81. Protagonist Therapeutics shares last traded at $139.5560, with a volume of 72,574 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PTGX shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $178.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $165.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.13.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $144.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.49 and a beta of 1.80.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 29.40%.The company had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.03 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3746.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 65,761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.11, for a total value of $9,805,622.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,055,804.58. The trade was a 11.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 225,000 shares of company stock valued at $33,131,367 over the last quarter. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $162,357,000. Johnson & Johnson acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $300,220,852. NEXTBio Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,055,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1,260.9% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 24,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $17,387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide-based medicines for immune-mediated diseases and hematologic disorders. The company uses its peptide discovery and development platform to create therapies designed to selectively modulate disease-related biological pathways.

Protagonist’s pipeline has included icotrokinra (also known as JNJ-2113), an oral peptide that targets the interleukin-23 receptor and is being developed for inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.