Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $11.70 and last traded at $12.16, with a volume of 40650 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PRTA. Oppenheimer upped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Prothena from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Prothena from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

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Prothena Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.38. The company has a market cap of $653.46 million, a P/E ratio of -5.28 and a beta of -0.02.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.02) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 22.67% and a negative net margin of 90.50%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRTA. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Prothena by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,130,876 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,063,000 after purchasing an additional 952,088 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Prothena by 265.4% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 38,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 27,887 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Prothena by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 77,672 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 15,442 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,524 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its holdings in Prothena by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 77,430 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 36,824 shares in the last quarter. 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.