Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Down 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) fell 2.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $14.44 and last traded at $14.49. 47,687 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 586,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PRTA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. Chardan Capital started coverage on Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prothena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.29.

Prothena Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $745.25 million, a P/E ratio of -5.58 and a beta of 0.09.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.18) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $0.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. Prothena’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PRTA. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 182.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Prothena by 63.7% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Prothena in the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Prothena by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,236 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.