Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 740,847 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. $PTGX

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 223.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,072,011 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 740,847 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $112,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Protagonist Therapeutics by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,413,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,832,000 after buying an additional 1,156,461 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,207,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,281,000 after acquiring an additional 500,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,171,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,977 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,770,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,934,000 after acquiring an additional 874,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 140.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,649,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549,160 shares in the last quarter. 98.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.12, for a total value of $7,509,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 523,478 shares in the company, valued at $52,410,617.36. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bryan Giraudo sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.14, for a total transaction of $3,605,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,395.50. This represents a 56.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 161,130 shares of company stock worth $16,355,220 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.19% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $140.91 on Monday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.49 and a 52-week high of $141.10. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.85 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $113.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.72.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.55. Protagonist Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a negative net margin of 154.88%.The business had revenue of $56.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.70 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PTGX shares. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on Protagonist Therapeutics from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Johnson Rice set a $165.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: PTGX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel, orally administered peptide-based therapies for immune-mediated and other serious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Peptide 2.0 platform to design peptides that target G protein–coupled receptors and cytokine receptors, with the goal of combining the potency of biologics with the convenience of oral administration. Protagonist’s approach aims to address unmet medical needs in areas where injectable therapies have been the standard of care.

Among its lead programs is PTG-100, an oral ?4?7 integrin antagonist intended to block leukocyte migration to the gut in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.