Insider Buying: Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Purchases $1,021,250.00 in Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully bought 125,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.17 per share, with a total value of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,061,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,668,370. The trade was a 13.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of Prothena stock opened at $8.25 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $431.89 million, a PE ratio of -2.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of -0.25. Prothena Corporation plc has a 1-year low of $4.95 and a 1-year high of $11.80.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.91. Prothena had a negative net margin of 260.92% and a negative return on equity of 43.44%. The firm had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.81 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prothena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

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.