Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Prothena Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ PRTA opened at $8.29 on Wednesday. Prothena has a 52-week low of $5.51 and a 52-week high of $11.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.60. The firm has a market cap of $433.98 million, a P/E ratio of -2.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of -0.25.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.91. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 43.44% and a negative net margin of 260.92%.The firm had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.81 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prothena will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prothena

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.17 per share, with a total value of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,061,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,668,370. The trade was a 13.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased 325,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,939,250 in the last quarter. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Prothena during the fourth quarter worth $108,000. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Prothena during the fourth quarter worth $114,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Prothena by 13.1% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 12,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 571.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,709 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 10,815 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prothena Company Profile

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases driven by misfolded proteins. The company’s research focuses on immunotherapies and small molecules designed to target and clear disease-causing protein aggregates. Prothena leverages proprietary protein engineering and antibody discovery platforms to advance candidates through preclinical and clinical stages.

The company’s most advanced program is an antibody targeting aggregated alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease, currently in mid-stage clinical trials.