Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Hits New 12-Month High Following Strong Earnings

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $146.84 and last traded at $143.21, with a volume of 65985 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $137.32.

The company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $213.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.81 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 154.88% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3746.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PTGX shares. Wedbush lifted their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $165.00 target price on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.94, for a total value of $1,061,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,880.50. This represents a 53.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 113,130 shares of company stock valued at $11,549,340 over the last 90 days. 5.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,461 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,281,000 after buying an additional 500,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,992,000 after buying an additional 1,262,977 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 9.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,891,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,866,000 after buying an additional 241,546 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,770,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,934,000 after acquiring an additional 874,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.75 and a beta of 1.78.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: PTGX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally administered peptide-based therapies for immune-mediated and other serious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Peptide 2.0 platform to design peptides that target G protein–coupled receptors and cytokine receptors, with the goal of combining the potency of biologics with the convenience of oral administration. Protagonist’s approach aims to address unmet medical needs in areas where injectable therapies have been the standard of care.

Among its lead programs is PTG-100, an oral α4β7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.