ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Stock Price Up 7.6% – Should You Buy?

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK)’s stock price shot up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $2.09 and last traded at $2.0650. Approximately 700,206 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 1,021,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of ProKidney in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen cut ProKidney from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded ProKidney from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ProKidney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.00.

ProKidney Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $624.29 million, a PE ratio of -3.75 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.84.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $0.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.19 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Brian Pereira sold 222,948 shares of ProKidney stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.42, for a total value of $316,586.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 54,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,826.26. The trade was a 80.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 757,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,067,315. 39.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ProKidney

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PROK. State Street Corp boosted its position in ProKidney by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 480,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 5,388 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in ProKidney by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 351,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 6,845 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in shares of ProKidney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ProKidney in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of ProKidney during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.59% of the company’s stock.

ProKidney Company Profile

ProKidney, Inc (NASDAQ: PROK) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing cell-based therapies for kidney diseases. The company’s research and development activities center on harnessing human-derived proximal tubule cells to address conditions such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). By targeting the underlying cellular mechanisms of renal injury and dysfunction, ProKidney aims to offer novel regenerative medicine approaches that go beyond current supportive care options.

ProKidney’s lead programs utilize proprietary methods for isolating and expanding renal epithelial cells to create injectable therapeutic products.