HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 54.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,887 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,897 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 405,061.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734,090 shares of the company's stock worth $78,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,662 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2,135.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 958,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,205,000 after purchasing an additional 915,418 shares in the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,268,735 shares of the company's stock worth $43,962,000 after buying an additional 274,412 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 813.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 297,467 shares of the company's stock worth $10,307,000 after buying an additional 264,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,467,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com cut Protagonist Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Protagonist Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 4.9 %

PTGX traded up $1.95 on Friday, reaching $41.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,360,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,240. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 2.18. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.88 and a 1 year high of $48.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,687,299.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 435,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,437,367.68. This represents a 15.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 1,906 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value of $78,107.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,275.12. This trade represents a 3.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 209,863 shares of company stock valued at $9,689,847. Insiders own 5.40% 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.