Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,678 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $1,462,553.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,821 shares in the company, valued at $3,689,477.33. This represents a 28.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $1,700,850.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 83,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,140.08. This trade represents a 26.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,368,010. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2 %

PTGX stock opened at $54.78 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.22 and a twelve month high of $60.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 2.34.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $56.65 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.