Profund Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,574 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,417 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PTGX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 61,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.69.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.14, for a total value of $3,605,040.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,395.50. This trade represents a 56.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,345 shares of company stock worth $25,810,506. Company insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of PTGX opened at $98.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.35 and a beta of 1.89. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.72 and a 12 month high of $107.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.89.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.