Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 43.21% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PTGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX stock opened at $48.88 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $24.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 2.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.88.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.65 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. Research analysts expect that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total transaction of $217,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $712,302.50. The trade was a 23.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total value of $1,700,850.36. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,585,010. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing 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.