Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading Up 6.8% – Here’s What Happened

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) rose 6.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $13.96 and last traded at $14.07. Approximately 234,276 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 431,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PRTA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. Chardan Capital started coverage on Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prothena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.50.

Prothena Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.21. The company has a market cap of $749.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.63 and a beta of 0.10.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.18) by $0.08. Prothena had a negative net margin of 98.86% and a negative return on equity of 24.19%. The firm had revenue of $0.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Prothena by 63.7% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Prothena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Prothena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $350,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

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.