Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 16,977 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 337,809 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,977 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.57% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $13,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RTW Investments LP increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.6% during the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,426,112 shares of the company's stock worth $244,175,000 after purchasing an additional 139,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,183,542 shares of the company's stock worth $143,259,000 after buying an additional 1,101,218 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,876,466 shares of the company's stock worth $72,432,000 after buying an additional 142,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,374,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,873,000 after buying an additional 3,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 565,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,448,000 after acquiring an additional 39,850 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 $20,627,126.80. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PTGX. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. 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 note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PTGX stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.59. 720,436 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 625,752. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.22 and a 1 year high of $48.89. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 2.22. The company's 50 day moving average is $37.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.81.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $2.07. The company had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $56.65 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. As a group, analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.