Insider Selling: Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) CEO Sells $1,048,759.80 in Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) CEO Dinesh Ph Patel sold 7,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.10, for a total transaction of $1,048,759.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,359,688.80. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ PTGX traded up $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $145.16. 543,127 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 483,614. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $142.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 140.93 and a beta of 1.80. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.53 and a 1-year high of $160.81.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.02. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 29.40% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.03 million. The business’s revenue was up 3746.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PTGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Wedbush lifted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $118.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.13.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide-based medicines for immune-mediated diseases and hematologic disorders. The company uses its peptide discovery and development platform to create therapies designed to selectively modulate disease-related biological pathways.

Protagonist’s pipeline has included icotrokinra (also known as JNJ-2113), an oral peptide that targets the interleukin-23 receptor and is being developed for inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.