Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $2.07 EPS

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) released its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $2.07, Zacks reports. Protagonist Therapeutics had a return on equity of 34.68% and a net margin of 52.76%.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 0.8 %

PTGX stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.80. 221,937 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 542,678. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 2.22. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $24.22 and a 1-year high of $48.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Suneel Gupta sold 103,437 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $4,762,239.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 256,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,794,250.96. This trade represents a 28.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $204,606.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,260 shares in the company, valued at $20,627,126.80. This trade represents a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 213,316 shares of company stock worth $9,816,345 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PTGX. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.