Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 3,962.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 296,511 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 289,213 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.50% of Protagonist Therapeutics worth $11,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PTGX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 54.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.73, for a total transaction of $1,462,553.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,689,477.33. This trade represents a 28.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total value of $1,700,850.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 83,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,676,140.08. This trade represents a 26.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 64,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,585,010. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

PTGX opened at $48.20 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.92. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.22 and a 12 month high of $60.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 2.34.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The firm had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.65 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Two investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

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.