Prothena Corporation plc (PRTA) – What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.57.

Several research firms have commented on PRTA. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th.

Prothena Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:PRTA opened at $8.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $443.93 million, a P/E ratio of -10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of -0.29. Prothena has a 52 week low of $7.73 and a 52 week high of $11.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.30.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.07. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 16.45% and a negative net margin of 80.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.42 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Prothena will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William P. Scully purchased 162,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.68 per share, with a total value of $1,406,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 214,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,857,520. This trade represents a 311.54% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased a total of 867,500 shares of company stock worth $7,432,350 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Prothena by 179.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Prothena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $404,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth about $148,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth about $413,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth about $281,000. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding or abnormal protein accumulation. Its research programs target neurological and systemic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and transthyretin amyloidosis.

The company’s pipeline has included PRX012, an investigational next-generation antibody targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer’s disease; prasinezumab, an anti-alpha-synuclein antibody being developed for Parkinson’s disease through a collaboration with Roche; and birtamimab, an investigational treatment designed to target misfolded light chains associated with AL amyloidosis.