Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

A number of analysts have issued reports on PRTA shares. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 price target on Prothena in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully bought 125,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,061,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,668,370. This trade represents a 13.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have bought a total of 345,000 shares of company stock worth $3,097,250 in the last three months. 10.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Prothena by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings 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 worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Prothena by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 81,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Prothena by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 25,679 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares in the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prothena Price Performance

PRTA opened at $9.69 on Friday. Prothena has a twelve month low of $6.16 and a twelve month high of $11.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.51. The stock has a market cap of $507.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.44, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of -0.31.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.91. The company 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prothena will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.