Armistice Capital LLC Sells 324,000 Shares of Prothena Corporation plc $PRTA

Armistice Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,500,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 324,000 shares during the quarter. Armistice Capital LLC owned 2.79% of Prothena worth $14,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Prothena in the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 373.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 39,879 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 72.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 59,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 25,129 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Prothena by 7,956.6% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,196 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 95,002 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Prothena by 251.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,047 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 32,959 shares during the period. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prothena Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PRTA opened at $8.49 on Thursday. Prothena Corporation plc has a 52-week low of $5.64 and a 52-week high of $11.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.89 and a 200 day moving average of $9.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $444.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of -0.25.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.91. The business had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.81 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 260.92% and a negative return on equity of 43.44%. Equities analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on PRTA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prothena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Insider Activity at Prothena

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,250.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,061,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,668,370. The trade was a 13.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have purchased 325,000 shares of company stock worth $2,939,250 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

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.