Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $132.79 and last traded at $130.4810, with a volume of 22646 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $131.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.21.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 1.7%

The firm has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of -71.57 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.41.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. Research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 1,750 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.47, for a total transaction of $184,572.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,223,046.41. This trade represents a 2.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 162,880 shares of company stock valued at $16,539,792. 5.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $518,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $245,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 64.8% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 212,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,420,000 after buying an additional 83,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 49.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,295,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,539,000 after buying an additional 427,854 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.