Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Price Up 6.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) were up 6.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.33 and last traded at $15.40. Approximately 138,190 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 418,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PRTA. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. Chardan Capital began coverage on Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Prothena Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.31 and a 200-day moving average of $17.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $840.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.30 and a beta of 0.10.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.18) by $0.08. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. The business had revenue of $0.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 98.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 30.4% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 21,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 5,050 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 59.7% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,191 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,593,000 after buying an additional 28,841 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 25.8% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,999,000 after buying an additional 39,771 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the third quarter worth about $816,000. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the third quarter worth about $350,000. 97.08% of the stock is 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.