Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock: Insider William Scully Buys 50,000 Shares

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $403,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,187,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,579,090. This trade represents a 4.40% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Price Performance

Prothena stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $8.40. 594,544 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 511,111. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.25. Prothena Corporation plc has a fifty-two week low of $7.73 and a fifty-two week high of $11.80. The stock has a market cap of $439.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of -0.29.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRTA. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 6.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 61,507 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 3,589 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 179.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Prothena in the second quarter valued at about $404,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Prothena during the second quarter worth about $148,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Prothena during the second quarter worth about $413,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.57.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ: PRTA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel medicines for serious neurodegenerative and rare peripheral diseases. Its research is centered on disease-causing proteins, including amyloid-beta, alpha-synuclein and transthyretin, with the goal of creating antibody-based therapies that address underlying disease mechanisms.

The company’s product pipeline has included birtamimab, an investigational antibody being developed for the treatment of AL amyloidosis, and prasinezumab, an investigational alpha-synuclein antibody being developed in collaboration with Roche for certain forms of Parkinson’s disease.