Inspire Investing LLC Decreases Stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Inspire Investing LLC cut its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 71.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,959 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PTGX. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 127.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 81,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,782,000 after buying an additional 45,674 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $1,107,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $2,250,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 565,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,448,000 after buying an additional 39,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,099.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 320,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,437,000 after buying an additional 310,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,687,299.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 435,208 shares in the company, valued at $20,437,367.68. This represents a 15.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 1,906 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total transaction of $78,107.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,275.12. The trade was 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 209,863 shares of company stock worth $9,689,847 over the last quarter. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Down 0.3 %

PTGX opened at $37.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.73. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.21 and a 52-week high of $48.89. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 2.23.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.05. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The firm had revenue of $4.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.50 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PTGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics 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.