Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $54.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. 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 target price for the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PTGX stock opened at $38.50 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 2.22. Protagonist Therapeutics has a one year low of $24.22 and a one year high of $48.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.80.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.