Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Earns Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Wedbush in a research note issued on Friday,RTT News reports. They presently have a $58.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential upside of 49.68% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

PTGX stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.75. The stock had a trading volume of 659,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,959. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 2.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.83. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $24.22 and a 52-week high of $48.89.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suneel Gupta sold 103,437 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $4,762,239.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 256,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,794,250.96. The trade was a 28.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,687,299.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 435,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,437,367.68. The trade was a 15.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 213,316 shares of company stock worth $9,816,345. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 405,061.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,662 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,183,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,218 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,600,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,025.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 940,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,287,000 after purchasing an additional 909,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 61.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 928,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,832,000 after purchasing an additional 353,511 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.