Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Up 5.9% – What’s Next?

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)’s share price traded up 5.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.23 and last traded at $11.4250. 163,735 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 490,533 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 price target on Prothena in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prothena has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.67.

Prothena Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.68 and a 200 day moving average of $9.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $619.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of -0.33.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $0.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.67 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 65.89% and a negative net margin of 2,520.57%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prothena in the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Prothena by 373.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 39,879 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Prothena by 72.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 59,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 25,129 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Prothena by 7,956.6% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,196 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 95,002 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 251.8% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,047 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32,959 shares in the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Prothena

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.