Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading 6.7% Higher – Here’s Why

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Chardan Capital started coverage on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

Prothena Trading Up 7.3 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $832.98 million, a PE ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 0.10.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.18) by $0.08. Prothena had a negative net margin of 98.86% and a negative return on equity of 24.19%. The business had revenue of $0.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Prothena’s revenue was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRTA. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,178,788 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,911,000 after purchasing an additional 539,359 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,198,000 after purchasing an additional 464,000 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 1,122.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 526,748 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,812,000 after purchasing an additional 483,673 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 39,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prothena Company Profile

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.