Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder William Scully Purchases 20,000 Shares

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully acquired 20,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.90 per share, for a total transaction of $158,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 756,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,972,400. The trade was a 2.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of PRTA opened at $8.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $467.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of -0.25. Prothena Corporation plc has a 1 year low of $5.64 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.58.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.81 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 260.92% and a negative return on equity of 43.44%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PRTA. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 target price on Prothena in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Prothena during the first quarter worth $230,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Prothena by 373.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 39,879 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Prothena by 72.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 59,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 25,129 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Prothena by 7,956.6% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,196 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 95,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Prothena by 251.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,047 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 32,959 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Company Profile

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases driven by misfolded proteins. The company’s research focuses on immunotherapies and small molecules designed to target and clear disease-causing protein aggregates. Prothena leverages proprietary protein engineering and antibody discovery platforms to advance candidates through preclinical and clinical stages.

The company’s most advanced program is an antibody targeting aggregated alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease, currently in mid-stage clinical trials.