Insider Buying: Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Buys $84,600.00 in Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.46 per share, for a total transaction of $84,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,037,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,773,020. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Performance

NASDAQ PRTA opened at $8.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.31. Prothena Corporation plc has a one year low of $7.73 and a one year high of $11.80. The firm has a market cap of $437.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.94, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of -0.29.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.42 million. Equities analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Prothena by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,669 shares in the last quarter. Penbrook Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prothena during the first quarter worth $2,641,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 39.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Prothena by 8.5% in the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,372,000 after buying an additional 123,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Prothena by 93.0% in the first quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 207,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 99,924 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prothena Company Profile

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding or abnormal protein accumulation. Its research programs target neurological and systemic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and transthyretin amyloidosis.

The company’s pipeline has included PRX012, an investigational next-generation antibody targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer’s disease; prasinezumab, an anti-alpha-synuclein antibody being developed for Parkinson’s disease through a collaboration with Roche; and birtamimab, an investigational treatment designed to target misfolded light chains associated with AL amyloidosis.