Rangeley Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Prothena Corporation plc $PRTA

Rangeley Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 449,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 75,140 shares during the quarter. Prothena makes up 4.0% of Rangeley Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Rangeley Capital LLC’s holdings in Prothena were worth $4,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PRTA. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Prothena by 5.5% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Prothena by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 12,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in 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 worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Prothena by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 25,679 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares during the period. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Prothena

In related news, major shareholder William P. Scully bought 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,061,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,668,370. This trade represents a 13.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have acquired 345,000 shares of company stock worth $3,097,250 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Price Performance

PRTA opened at $8.75 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.45. Prothena Corporation plc has a 1 year low of $6.58 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The stock has a market cap of $458.06 million, a P/E ratio of -3.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of -0.31.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on shares of Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

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.