Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading Up 6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) were up 6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $14.73 and last traded at $14.75. Approximately 139,591 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 352,595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PRTA shares. StockNews.com lowered Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Chardan Capital began coverage on Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Prothena from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prothena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

Prothena Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.69 million, a PE ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 0.08.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Prothena by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 5,148 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Prothena by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 7,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 4,858 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena in the fourth quarter valued at $145,000. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena in the fourth quarter valued at $149,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Prothena by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the period. 97.08% of the stock is currently 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.