Comerica Bank Decreases Stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,933,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,746,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 141.7% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PTGX shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.20.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 83,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,784,360.76. The trade was a 10.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 22,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total transaction of $1,214,678.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 548,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,197,016.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,859 shares of company stock worth $4,257,877 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $60.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.47 and a beta of 2.22. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.31 and a 1 year high of $61.89.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 million. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 24.88% and a return on equity of 8.12%. Sell-side analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

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.