Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $48.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their previous target price of $84.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PRTA. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com cut Prothena from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Chardan Capital began coverage on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.29.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of PRTA traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,557,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 592,325. Prothena has a 1 year low of $11.70 and a 1 year high of $41.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $15.73 and its 200 day moving average is $19.14. The firm has a market cap of $818.97 million, a PE ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 0.09.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.18) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $0.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prothena will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 14.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,178,788 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $69,911,000 after buying an additional 539,359 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Prothena by 42.3% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,198,000 after acquiring an additional 464,000 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Prothena by 1,122.9% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 483,673 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 39,771 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 165,423 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 19,578 shares in the last quarter. 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.