Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $121.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 0.5%

PTGX opened at $136.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $116.79 and its 200-day moving average is $101.33. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $50.49 and a 1-year high of $143.29. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.20 and a beta of 1.79.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total transaction of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 161,130 shares of company stock valued at $16,355,220. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC acquired 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 period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 222.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.