Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder William Scully Purchases 27,000 Shares

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully bought 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.47 per share, for a total transaction of $255,690.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 827,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,831,690. This trade represents a 3.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Down 0.9%

Prothena stock opened at $9.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.41. Prothena Corporation plc has a twelve month low of $7.73 and a twelve month high of $11.80. The company has a market capitalization of $502.56 million, a PE ratio of -11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of -0.33.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.42 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 16.45% and a negative net margin of 80.68%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRTA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.57.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 36.0% during the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322,669 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prothena by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Prothena by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc grew its position in Prothena by 93.0% during the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 207,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 99,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penbrook Management LLC bought a new stake in Prothena during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,641,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% 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.