Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 4,916 Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PTGX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $90,000. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX opened at $148.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.30. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.49 and a fifty-two week high of $151.88. The company has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.97 and a beta of 1.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.03 million. The firm’s revenue was up 3746.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,825 shares in the company, valued at $922,880.50. This trade represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,927,340. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PTGX. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Protagonist Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their target price 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.86.

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.