Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $9.28 and last traded at $9.41, with a volume of 26306 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PRTA. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Prothena from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Prothena from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prothena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Prothena Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $502.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.06 and a beta of 0.07.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.02) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 22.67% and a negative net margin of 90.50%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 4.4% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Prothena by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 5,148 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Prothena by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 67,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Prothena by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the period. 97.08% of the stock is 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.