Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Buys 50,000 Shares of Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 50,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.79 per share, for a total transaction of $439,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 800,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,032,000. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.44. 215,695 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,062. Prothena Corporation plc has a twelve month low of $7.73 and a twelve month high of $11.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $494.18 million, a P/E ratio of -11.24, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of -0.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.37.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRTA. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Prothena by 571.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,709 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 10,815 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prothena in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Prothena in the 4th quarter valued at $108,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth $113,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena in the 4th quarter worth $114,000. 97.08% of the stock is 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.