Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Given New $119.00 Price Target at Barclays

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) had its target price upped by Barclays from $113.00 to $119.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.87% from the stock’s previous close.

PTGX has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Johnson Rice reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.77.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

PTGX stock traded up $5.61 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $102.70. 215,703 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 754,789. Protagonist Therapeutics has a one year low of $39.60 and a one year high of $101.49. The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of -50.10 and a beta of 2.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $86.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.45.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.16). The business 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%. On average, analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director Lewis T. Williams sold 18,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.42, for a total value of $1,483,560.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at $644,936.50. This trade represents a 69.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,014,401.60. This represents a 43.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,167 shares of company stock worth $16,889,199. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $699,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 56.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,567,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,935,000 after acquiring an additional 564,134 shares during the period. KVP Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $4,629,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.