Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Given “Outperform” Rating at Wedbush

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 43.21% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $48.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 2.34. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $24.22 and a 52-week high of $60.60.

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

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total value of $1,700,850.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 83,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,676,140.08. This represents a 26.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total value of $217,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,130 shares in the company, valued at $712,302.50. This trade represents a 23.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,585,010 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,025.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 940,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,287,000 after acquiring an additional 909,998 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 174.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 21,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 13,575 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,162,000. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $392,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors 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.