Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading Down 2.3%

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) shares traded down 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $24.53 and last traded at $24.57. 14,520 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 812,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities raised their price target on Prothena from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Prothena in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Prothena from $98.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Prothena from $129.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prothena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.63.

Prothena Stock Down 1.6 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.05.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $0.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 160.91% and a negative return on equity of 24.84%. Prothena’s revenue for the quarter was down 99.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prothena

In other Prothena news, CAO Karin L. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total value of $170,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 28.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRTA. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Prothena by 265.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Prothena by 61.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.