Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Trading 6.5% Higher - Should You Buy?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 6.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $16.02 and last traded at $16.11. 134,573 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 369,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRTA. StockNews.com raised Prothena from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Prothena from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Chardan Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Prothena Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.44 and a 200 day moving average of $16.61. The firm has a market cap of $850.72 million, a P/E ratio of -6.87 and a beta of 0.08.

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

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Prothena by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 49,916 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 23,525 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $8,812,000 after buying an additional 483,673 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Prothena by 41.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Prothena during the 4th quarter worth about $445,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.