Insider Selling: Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) CFO Sells 24,903 Shares of Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.73, for a total transaction of $1,462,553.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,689,477.33. This trade represents a 28.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX opened at $54.78 on Monday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 2.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.63 and its 200 day moving average is $42.23.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The company had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.65 million. As a group, analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on PTGX shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.