Brokerages Set Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Price Target at $23.75

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp upped their price target 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. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th.

Insider Activity at Prothena

In other news, major shareholder William P. Scully bought 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.17 per share, with a total value of $1,021,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,061,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,668,370. The trade was a 13.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 345,000 shares of company stock worth $3,097,250. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Prothena during the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 373.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 39,879 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 72.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 59,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 25,129 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 95,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Prothena by 251.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,047 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32,959 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prothena Stock Performance

Prothena stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 505,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,806. The stock has a market capitalization of $483.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of -0.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.49 and its 200 day moving average is $9.51. Prothena has a 1-year low of $6.16 and a 1-year high of $11.80.

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

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.