Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $99.31 and last traded at $97.6850, with a volume of 56884 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $96.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on 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, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.08.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 1.0%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.66 and a beta of 2.23.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,438 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $2,840,446.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 580,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,880,052.40. This trade represents a 5.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.68, for a total value of $1,673,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,796. The trade was a 71.88% decrease in their position. 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 worth $16,889,199. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake 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 valued at $231,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549,160 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 valued at $276,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,977 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $472,832,000 after buying an additional 1,156,461 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,114,000. Finally, Commodore Capital LP purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $59,415,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.