Insider Buying: Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Buys $1,406,160.00 in Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 162,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.68 per share, with a total value of $1,406,160.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 214,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,857,520. This trade represents a 311.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PRTA opened at $8.36 on Friday. Prothena Corporation plc has a 12 month low of $7.73 and a 12 month high of $11.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.34. The firm has a market cap of $437.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.95, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of -0.29.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS 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%. Research analysts expect that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRTA. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Prothena by 179.1% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Prothena in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Prothena in the second quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $413,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $281,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings cut Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prothena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.