Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Acquires $471,500.00 in Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully acquired 50,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.43 per share, with a total value of $471,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 886,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,354,980. This trade represents a 5.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PRTA opened at $8.79 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.12 and a 200-day moving average of $9.71. The company has a market capitalization of $460.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of -0.25. Prothena Corporation plc has a 52 week low of $4.95 and a 52 week high of $11.80.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.91. The company had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.81 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 260.92% and a negative return on equity of 43.44%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PRTA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Prothena by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 735,765 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,181,000 after purchasing an additional 608,814 shares in the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc increased its position in Prothena by 88.1% in the 4th quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 107,479 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 50,350 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Prothena by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 63,018 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 6,299 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Prothena by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,284 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 6,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penbrook Management LLC acquired a new stake in Prothena in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,641,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Company Profile

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.