E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 76,087 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,421 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTGX. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 405,061.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,734,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,662 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 52.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,183,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101,218 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,099.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 320,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,437,000 after acquiring an additional 310,804 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Protagonist Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,708,000. Finally, RTW Investments LP grew its position in Protagonist Therapeutics by 2.6% in the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,426,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,175,000 after acquiring an additional 139,708 shares during the period. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Protagonist Therapeutics stock opened at $39.05 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.22 and a 1-year high of $48.89. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 2.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.74.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $204,606.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 540,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,627,126.80. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Protagonist Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.89.

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.