Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.60.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PRTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $19.00 target price on Prothena in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Chardan Capital raised Prothena to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prothena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Prothena Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ PRTA opened at $8.89 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.23. Prothena has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $16.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.55 million, a P/E ratio of -1.70, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of -0.11.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.67) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 65.89% and a negative net margin of 2,379.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Prothena will post -4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Prothena by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 13.1% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 12,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 311,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prothena by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 4,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

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.