Asif Ali Sells 1,750 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) CFO Asif Ali sold 1,750 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.47, for a total transaction of $184,572.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,223,046.41. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Asif Ali also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 26th, Asif Ali sold 24,765 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.24, for a total transaction of $2,581,503.60.
• On Tuesday, January 27th, Asif Ali sold 46,203 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.13, for a total transaction of $3,840,855.39.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PTGX stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.89. 494,943 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 798,984. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.21. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.28 and a 1-year high of $107.84. The firm has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of -51.65 and a beta of 2.12.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.16). Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 282.83% and a negative return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $7.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.92 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PTGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.15.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

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.