Protagonist Therapeutics’ (PTGX) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PTGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PTGX opened at $38.88 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $24.22 and a 52 week high of $48.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 2.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.91.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.05. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%. The company had revenue of $4.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.50 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, insider Suneel Gupta sold 103,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total transaction of $4,762,239.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 256,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,794,250.96. This trade represents a 28.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,687,299.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 435,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,437,367.68. This represents a 15.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 209,863 shares of company stock worth $9,689,847 over the last ninety days. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 749.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 910.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.