Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.59) by ($0.03), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $4.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.41 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 6.78%.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PTGX traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.54. 882,282 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,433. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $33.31 and a 1 year high of $93.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.54 and its 200-day moving average is $57.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.29 and a beta of 2.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.62, for a total transaction of $979,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $418,710.60. This represents a 70.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,473,440. 4.90% 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 the company. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 79.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 30.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares in 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.