Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $41.65, but opened at $43.30. Protagonist Therapeutics shares last traded at $44.70, with a volume of 89,667 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PTGX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.57.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.02. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 2.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Asif Ali sold 14,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.49, for a total value of $631,891.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,555,370.40. The trade was a 28.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 1,906 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value of $78,107.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,903,275.12. This trade represents a 3.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,109 shares of company stock worth $1,069,999 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.8% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 5,840,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,383,000 after buying an additional 101,800 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP increased its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,426,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,175,000 after acquiring an additional 139,708 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,192,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,373,000 after purchasing an additional 39,055 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 52.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,183,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 405,061.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,662 shares during the period. 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.