Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Price Up 6.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) shot up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $15.33 and last traded at $15.40. 138,190 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 418,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on PRTA shares. StockNews.com lowered Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Chardan Capital started coverage on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

Prothena Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.31 and a 200 day moving average of $17.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $840.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.30 and a beta of 0.10.

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. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. The business had revenue of $0.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 98.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRTA. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Prothena by 4.4% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,531 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Prothena by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Prothena by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Prothena by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 86,071 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Prothena by 30.4% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 21,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 5,050 shares during the period. 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.