Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Price Down 3.7% After Insider Selling

Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) fell 3.7% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $53.00 and last traded at $52.77. 218,633 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 735,490 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.78.

Specifically, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.73, for a total transaction of $1,462,553.19. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,689,477.33. This trade represents a 28.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $1,700,850.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 83,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,676,140.08. This represents a 26.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $73.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 2.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.31.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% during 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 in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.