Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading Up 6% – Here’s Why

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) shares were up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $14.73 and last traded at $14.75. Approximately 139,591 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 352,595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PRTA shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 cut their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Prothena from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prothena currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.50.

Prothena Stock Up 7.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $807.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.85.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 110.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 49,916 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 167.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 23,525 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 1,122.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 526,748 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,812,000 after buying an additional 483,673 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 69,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 20,450 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena in the fourth quarter worth about $445,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

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.