Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading 6.5% Higher – What’s Next?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Prothena Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $761.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 0.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.50.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DCF Advisers LLC raised its position in Prothena by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 107,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Prothena by 2.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Prothena by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 86,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Prothena by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares in the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.