Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Up 6.8% – Should You Buy?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)’s stock price was up 6.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $13.96 and last traded at $14.07. Approximately 234,276 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 431,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PRTA. Chardan Capital assumed coverage on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Prothena Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.14.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.18) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $0.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. The business’s revenue was down 98.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Prothena by 63.7% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Prothena in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Prothena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $260,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 4.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena in the third quarter valued at approximately $350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

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.