Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Stock Price Down 6.2% – Should You Sell?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) traded down 6.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $35.03 and last traded at $35.59. Approximately 102,731 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 561,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised Protagonist Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Protagonist Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.78.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 2.23.

Insider Activity at Protagonist Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 78,520 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 435,208 shares in the company, valued at $20,437,367.68. The trade was a 15.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suneel Gupta sold 103,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total transaction of $4,762,239.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 256,174 shares in the company, valued at $11,794,250.96. The trade was a 28.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 209,863 shares of company stock worth $9,689,847. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protagonist Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $251,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $2,016,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Protagonist Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,099.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 320,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,437,000 after purchasing an additional 310,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

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.