Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.57.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Prothena Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA opened at $8.35 on Tuesday. Prothena has a twelve month low of $7.73 and a twelve month high of $11.80. The firm has a market cap of $437.12 million, a PE ratio of -9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of -0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.31.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (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 return on equity of 16.45% and a negative net margin of 80.68%. On average, research analysts expect that Prothena will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 162,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.68 per share, with a total value of $1,406,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 214,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,857,520. This represents a 311.54% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 867,500 shares of company stock worth $7,432,350 in the last 90 days. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Prothena by 2.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 136,322 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 3,622 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Prothena by 179.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Prothena by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 782,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,606,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA purchased a new position in Prothena in the first quarter valued at about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding or abnormal protein accumulation. Its research programs target neurological and systemic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and transthyretin amyloidosis.

The company’s pipeline has included PRX012, an investigational next-generation antibody targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer’s disease; prasinezumab, an anti-alpha-synuclein antibody being developed for Parkinson’s disease through a collaboration with Roche; and birtamimab, an investigational treatment designed to target misfolded light chains associated with AL amyloidosis.