Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.56.

Several analysts have weighed in on PTGX shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total value of $217,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,302.50. This represents a 23.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $204,606.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,627,126.80. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,776 shares of company stock worth $3,585,010 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $48.88 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.54 and its 200 day moving average is $42.87. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $24.22 and a 52 week high of $60.60. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 2.34.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $2.07. The firm had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.65 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

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.