Barclays PLC Buys 49,916 Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Free Report) by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,916 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.18% of Prothena worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,178,788 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,911,000 after purchasing an additional 539,359 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 during the period. Armistice Capital LLC raised its stake in Prothena by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,198,000 after acquiring an additional 464,000 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Prothena in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $816,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Prothena during the second quarter worth approximately $905,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company's stock.

Prothena Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of PRTA traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.14. 475,150 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,351. The company's 50 day moving average is $15.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.88. The company has a market capitalization of $814.67 million, a P/E ratio of -6.10 and a beta of 0.09. Prothena Co. plc has a 52 week low of $11.70 and a 52 week high of $41.54.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.18) by $0.08. Prothena had a negative net margin of 98.86% and a negative return on equity of 24.19%. The business had revenue of $0.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Prothena from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Chardan Capital started coverage on Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.29.

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.