Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading 6.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)’s stock price was up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $14.01 and last traded at $14.01. Approximately 69,434 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 391,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Chardan Capital began coverage on Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prothena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.29.

Prothena Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.50. The company has a market cap of $761.94 million, a PE ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 0.10.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.18) by $0.08. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. The firm had revenue of $0.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Prothena’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 49,916 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 4.4% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Prothena during the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Prothena by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,178,788 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,911,000 after acquiring an additional 539,359 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC raised its holdings in Prothena by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 110,654 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

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.