Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.50.

PRTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Prothena from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Chardan Capital started coverage on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA opened at $14.98 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.84. The company has a market capitalization of $806.07 million, a PE ratio of -6.04 and a beta of 0.08. Prothena has a 12-month low of $11.70 and a 12-month high of $31.03.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Prothena by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,130,876 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,063,000 after buying an additional 952,088 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prothena by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,403,838 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,443,000 after purchasing an additional 144,737 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 864,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,980,000 after purchasing an additional 10,783 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 746,177 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,335,000 after purchasing an additional 341,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 4th quarter worth about $9,556,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Company Profile

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.