Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Price Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.26 and traded as low as $7.96. Prothena shares last traded at $8.25, with a volume of 381,828 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Prothena Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $429.27 million, a PE ratio of -9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of -0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.26.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.42 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Prothena

In related news, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 162,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,406,160.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 214,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,857,520. This trade represents a 311.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 867,500 shares of company stock worth $7,432,350. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Prothena by 179.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in shares of Prothena during the first quarter valued at $146,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the 2nd quarter worth about $148,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the 1st quarter worth about $168,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the 2nd quarter worth about $281,000. 97.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.