Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Down 3.6% – Should You Sell?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)’s stock price was down 3.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $13.53 and last traded at $13.53. Approximately 158,950 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 574,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PRTA. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.33.

Prothena Trading Up 34.0 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.17. The company has a market capitalization of $861.48 million, a PE ratio of -6.46 and a beta of 0.09.

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

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRTA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 14.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,178,788 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,911,000 after buying an additional 539,359 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in Prothena by 42.3% during the second 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 during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 483,673 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 25.8% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 39,771 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Prothena by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 165,423 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,414,000 after buying an additional 19,578 shares during the period. 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.