Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Trading Down 3.7% on Insider Selling

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares fell 3.7% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $53.00 and last traded at $52.77. 218,633 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 735,490 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.78.

Specifically, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,689,477.33. The trade was a 28.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $1,700,850.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 83,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,676,140.08. This represents a 26.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. 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. 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 4.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 2.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.63 and its 200 day moving average is $42.23.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 127.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 81,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,782,000 after buying an additional 45,674 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,250,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 565,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,448,000 after buying an additional 39,850 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,099.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 320,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,437,000 after buying an additional 310,804 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $861,000. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.