Insider Buying: Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Acquires 50,000 Shares of Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully bought 50,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.43 per share, for a total transaction of $471,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 886,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,354,980. This trade represents a 5.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.89. 271,423 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 501,098. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.74. Prothena Corporation plc has a one year low of $4.66 and a one year high of $11.80. The company has a market cap of $465.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of -0.25.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.91. Prothena had a negative net margin of 260.92% and a negative return on equity of 43.44%. The firm had revenue of $51.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.81 million. Equities analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 571.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,709 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 10,815 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the fourth quarter worth $100,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the second quarter worth $113,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena during the fourth quarter worth $114,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases driven by misfolded proteins. The company’s research focuses on immunotherapies and small molecules designed to target and clear disease-causing protein aggregates. Prothena leverages proprietary protein engineering and antibody discovery platforms to advance candidates through preclinical and clinical stages.

The company’s most advanced program is an antibody targeting aggregated alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease, currently in mid-stage clinical trials.