Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 303,313 Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 303,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,708,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 240,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,296,000 after purchasing an additional 110,020 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 578,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,327,000 after purchasing an additional 12,906 shares in the last quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 31,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 4,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 31,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,920 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total value of $217,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,302.50. The trade was a 23.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total value 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 approximately $4,676,140.08. This trade represents a 26.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 64,776 shares of company stock worth $3,585,010. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Down 2.4 %

PTGX opened at $53.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.55. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.22 and a 12-month high of $60.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 2.34.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $73.00 target price on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

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.