Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.16), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $7.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.92 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 282.83% and a negative return on equity of 19.50%.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $88.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of -43.12 and a beta of 2.26. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $35.95 and a 52-week high of $96.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.12 and a 200 day moving average of $76.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $2,840,446.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 580,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,880,052.40. The trade was a 5.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.13, for a total transaction of $3,840,855.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 60,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,014,401.60. This represents a 43.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 203,167 shares of company stock valued at $16,889,199. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.4% in the third quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 61,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PTGX shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.31.

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.