Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PTGX. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $153.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $178.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.13.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $143.73 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $65.75 and a 52-week high of $160.81. The stock has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of 139.55 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.85.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.03 million. The business’s revenue was up 3746.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinsesh Patel sold 7,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total transaction of $1,048,759.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 522,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,359,688.80. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 58,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.78, for a total transaction of $8,312,419.62. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,365,445.34. This trade represents a 49.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 283,629 shares of company stock valued at $41,443,786 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 63.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 352 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 (NASDAQ:PTGX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide-based medicines for chronic immune-mediated and hematologic diseases. The company uses its proprietary technology platform to design peptides intended to selectively interact with disease-relevant biological targets.

Protagonist’s pipeline includes icotrokinra, formerly known as JNJ-2113, an investigational oral peptide that selectively targets the interleukin-23 receptor.