Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) Short Interest Down 14.8% in October

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,000,000 shares, a decrease of 14.8% from the September 30th total of 3,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 656,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Asif Ali sold 14,203 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.49, for a total transaction of $631,891.47. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,555,370.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director William D. Waddill sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $360,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $540,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 14,203 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.49, for a total value of $631,891.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,555,370.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTGX. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 749.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $43,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 910.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,000. 98.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protagonist Therapeutics Trading Up 0.7 %

PTGX opened at $47.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.65. Protagonist Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $13.75 and a 1-year high of $48.32.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $4.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.00 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PTGX. TD Cowen upgraded Protagonist Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Truist Financial began 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.86.

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.