Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 337,809 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,977 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $13,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 3.0 %

PTGX stock opened at $36.15 on Thursday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.22 and a twelve month high of $48.89. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 2.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.85.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The business had revenue of $170.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.65 million. On average, research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $204,606.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 540,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,627,126.80. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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.