ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $7.00. The stock had previously closed at $4.54, but opened at $4.78. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. ProKidney shares last traded at $4.17, with a volume of 4,668,901 shares.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised ProKidney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 target price (up previously from $6.00) on shares of ProKidney in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of ProKidney from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $3.00 to $1.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ProKidney currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Darin J. Weber sold 103,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total transaction of $312,509.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Control Empresarial De Capital purchased 387,393 shares of ProKidney stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $0.71 per share, with a total value of $275,049.03. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 73,842,723 shares in the company, valued at $52,428,333.33. The trade was a 0.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 41.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProKidney

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in ProKidney by 106.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 27,098 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ProKidney by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 30,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 11,250 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in ProKidney in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in ProKidney by 49.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 86,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 28,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in ProKidney during the fourth quarter worth $88,000. Institutional investors own 51.59% of the company’s stock.

ProKidney Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $986.40 million, a P/E ratio of -5.62 and a beta of 1.26.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

About ProKidney

ProKidney Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, provides transformative proprietary cell therapy platform for treating various chronic kidney diseases in the United States. The company's lead product is Renal Autologous Cell Therapy (REACT), an autologous homologous cell admixture, which has completed Phase I clinical trial for REACT in patients with congenital anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), as well as in Phase III and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe diabetic kidney disease.