Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $151.88 and last traded at $148.29, with a volume of 306256 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $150.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PTGX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.86.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 0.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 147.01 and a beta of 1.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.26.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 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 firm had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.03 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3746.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 34,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.52, for a total transaction of $5,085,176.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at $77,746,952.56. This trade represents a 6.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,880.50. The trade was a 53.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,000 shares of company stock worth $17,818,139. Insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NEXTBio Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $20,055,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,924,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,783,000. Stempoint Capital LP boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Stempoint Capital LP now owns 72,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,650,000 after acquiring an additional 13,147 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,305,000. 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.