Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Down 3.7% Following Insider Selling

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares dropped 3.7% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 62,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,689,477.33. This trade represents a 28.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $1,700,850.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 83,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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

PTGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.22.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 2.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.31.

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

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 174.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 21,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 13,575 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $13,162,000. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $392,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 582,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,478,000 after buying an additional 115,809 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.