Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Acquires $890,100.00 in Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully bought 103,500 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.60 per share, for a total transaction of $890,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 187,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,200. This trade represents a 123.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Performance

Shares of Prothena stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.78. 544,740 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 505,568. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.91 and a 200-day moving average of $9.37. Prothena Corporation plc has a 12 month low of $7.73 and a 12 month high of $11.80. The company has a market cap of $459.63 million, a PE ratio of -10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of -0.33.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.42 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in shares of Prothena in the 1st quarter worth about $146,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Prothena during the 2nd quarter valued at about $148,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Prothena during the 1st quarter valued at about $168,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Prothena by 55.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 9,991 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Prothena presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.57.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ: PRTA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative and other protein-misfolding diseases. The company’s research is based on targeting abnormal proteins and the biological processes associated with their accumulation in tissue.

Prothena’s lead programs include birtamimab, an investigational antibody being developed for patients with AL amyloidosis, and prasinezumab, an investigational antibody targeting alpha-synuclein for Parkinson’s disease.