Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Up 6.5% - Still a Buy?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $14.01 and last traded at $14.01. 69,434 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 391,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRTA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. Chardan Capital initiated coverage on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Prothena from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.29.

Prothena Trading Up 7.6 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.53. The company has a market cap of $761.40 million, a P/E ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 0.10.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 49,916 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its stake in Prothena by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,198,000 after purchasing an additional 464,000 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Prothena by 1,122.9% during 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 last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Prothena during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $905,000. Finally, Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Prothena during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $816,000. Institutional investors 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.