Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading Down 2.3%

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) was down 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $24.53 and last traded at $24.57. Approximately 14,520 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 812,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PRTA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Prothena from $129.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Prothena from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Prothena from $98.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Prothena from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.63.

Prothena Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.05.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $0.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 160.91% and a negative return on equity of 24.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 99.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Prothena

In related news, CAO Karin L. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total transaction of $170,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 28.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRTA. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 40,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,423 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,463 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prothena by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,908 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG grew its holdings in shares of Prothena by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 27,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc, a late-stage clinical biotechnology company, focuses on discovery and development of novel therapies to treat diseases caused by protein dysregulation in the United States. The company is involved in developing birtamimab, an investigational humanized antibody that is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of AL amyloidosis; Prasinezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other related synucleinopathies which is in Phase IIb clinical trial; NNC6019 that is in Phase lI clinical trial for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis; and BMS-986446 and PRX012, which is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.