Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Chardan Capital assumed coverage on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Prothena Stock Performance

Shares of Prothena stock opened at $15.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.95. Prothena has a fifty-two week low of $11.70 and a fifty-two week high of $33.84. The company has a market cap of $840.51 million, a P/E ratio of -6.30 and a beta of 0.10.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 worth $69,911,000 after acquiring an additional 539,359 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Prothena by 1,122.9% during 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 worth $8,812,000 after purchasing an additional 483,673 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Prothena by 25.8% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 39,771 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Prothena by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 122,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after buying an additional 9,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.