Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Prothena Price Performance

Prothena stock opened at $9.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $494.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of -0.29. Prothena has a 1 year low of $7.73 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.37.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.42 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. Research analysts expect that Prothena will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully purchased 125,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,250.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,061,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,668,370. This trade represents a 13.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Michael John Isaacs sold 8,386 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total transaction of $71,029.42. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 35,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,760.15. The trade was a 19.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 295,000 shares of company stock worth $2,555,750 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322,669 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Prothena by 39.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares in the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in Prothena by 93.0% during the first quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 207,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 99,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penbrook Management LLC purchased a new position in Prothena in the first quarter valued at about $2,641,000. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.