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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PRTA. Chardan Capital began coverage on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America dropped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

Prothena Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $832.98 million, a P/E ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.02.

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

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Prothena by 4.4% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Prothena by 2.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Prothena by 3.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 86,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Prothena by 63.7% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Prothena by 30.4% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 21,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 5,050 shares in the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is owned by 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.