Protagonist (PTGX) CFO Ali Asif Exercises Options, Sells Shares

What Happened
Ali Asif, CFO of Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX), exercised stock options to acquire 28,000 shares (16,000 at $19.19 and 12,000 at $12.17) for a combined cost of $453,080, and executed open-market sales of 46,203 shares on January 27, 2026 for total proceeds of approximately $3,841,037 (sales reported at weighted average prices of $83.13 and $83.14). The Form 4 also shows conversion/exercise-related derivative line items recorded at $0.00 for 16,000 and 12,000 shares (see footnotes/filing for details).

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-01-27 (filed same day).
• Option exercises (code M): 16,000 shares @ $19.19 ($307,040) and 12,000 shares @ $12.17 ($146,040).
• Open-market sales (code S): 28,000 shares @ $83.13 (weighted avg; proceeds $2,327,640) and 18,203 shares @ $83.14 (weighted avg; proceeds $1,513,397).
• Total sold: 46,203 shares for ≈ $3.84M; total cash spent on exercises ≈ $453,080.
• Footnote F1: Includes 446 shares acquired earlier via the 2016 ESPP (Sept 9, 2025).
• Footnotes F2/F3: Sale prices are weighted averages; actual trades ranged ~$82.77–$83.595 and $82.80–$83.595 respectively. SEC staff can request per-trade breakdowns.
• Footnotes F4/F5: Describe the grant dates and vesting schedules for the options exercised (grants: Apr 18, 2022 and Jan 16, 2023).
• Shares owned after the transactions are not specified in the excerpt provided—see the full Form 4 for post-transaction beneficial ownership.

Context
The filing shows same-day option exercises and open-market sales. This pattern is commonly used to cover exercise costs and tax withholding (a cashless exercise or immediate sell), but the Form 4 itself does not state the purpose. These are insider transactions by an executive (not a 10% owner) and were reported on the transaction date.