Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Purchases 90,000 Shares of Company Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully bought 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $771,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 529,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,533,530. This represents a 20.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PRTA traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.87. 190,055 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 508,207. The stock has a market cap of $464.24 million, a PE ratio of -10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of -0.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.34. Prothena Corporation plc has a one year low of $7.73 and a one year high of $11.80.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.07. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. The business had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.42 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PRTA. Wall Street Zen cut Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prothena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 36.0% during the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,669 shares during the period. Penbrook Management LLC purchased a new stake in Prothena in the 1st quarter worth $2,641,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Prothena by 39.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prothena by 8.5% during the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Prothena by 93.0% in the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 207,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 99,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding or abnormal protein accumulation. Its research programs target neurological and systemic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and transthyretin amyloidosis.

The company’s pipeline has included PRX012, an investigational next-generation antibody targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer’s disease; prasinezumab, an anti-alpha-synuclein antibody being developed for Parkinson’s disease through a collaboration with Roche; and birtamimab, an investigational treatment designed to target misfolded light chains associated with AL amyloidosis.