Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.5714.

Several research firms have issued reports on PRTA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th.

Insider Transactions at Prothena

In other Prothena news, insider Anne Kingston sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total value of $64,897.14. Following the transaction, the insider owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,473.54. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Michael Isaacs sold 8,386 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total transaction of $71,029.42. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 35,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,760.15. This trade represents a 19.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRTA. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Prothena by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,669 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Prothena by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 782,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,606,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Prothena by 39.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 426,360 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,072,000 after purchasing an additional 25,513 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRTA opened at $8.46 on Friday. Prothena has a 1 year low of $7.73 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of -0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $8.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.42.

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

Prothena Company Profile

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ: PRTA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative and other protein-misfolding diseases. The company’s research is based on targeting abnormal proteins and the biological processes associated with their accumulation in tissue.

Prothena’s lead programs include birtamimab, an investigational antibody being developed for patients with AL amyloidosis, and prasinezumab, an investigational antibody targeting alpha-synuclein for Parkinson’s disease.