Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Trading Down 3.7% on Insider Selling

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

Specifically, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.73, for a total value of $1,462,553.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 26.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 2.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.23.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $69,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company 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.