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

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $114.49 and last traded at $113.2270, with a volume of 1524436 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Johnson Rice restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 2.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.72 and a beta of 1.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.07.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. The company had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total transaction of $7,509,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. The trade was a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.79, for a total value of $1,571,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 84,115 shares in the company, valued at $8,814,410.85. The trade was a 15.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 272,345 shares of company stock valued at $27,676,386 over the last ninety days. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,160 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,832,000 after buying an additional 1,156,461 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $72,114,000. Finally, Commodore Capital LP acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $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.