Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Trading Up 6.1% - Here's Why

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.77 and last traded at $47.79. 79,930 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 830,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.86 and a 200-day moving average of $42.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 2.30.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total value of $217,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,130 shares in the company, valued at $712,302.50. This represents a 23.35 % 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, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $204,606.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 540,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,627,126.80. This represents a 0.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,776 shares of company stock worth $3,585,010 over the last ninety days. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PTGX. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 5,930,006 shares of the company's stock worth $228,898,000 after purchasing an additional 69,000 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP lifted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,498,545 shares of the company's stock worth $212,244,000 after buying an additional 72,433 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL grew its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 1,900,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,341,000 after buying an additional 49,848 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,876,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,432,000 after acquiring an additional 142,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,392,652 shares of the company's stock worth $53,758,000 after acquiring an additional 83,185 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.