Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.07, Zacks reports. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.42 million.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of PRTA stock opened at $8.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $458.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.43, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of -0.30. Prothena has a 1 year low of $7.39 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anne Evans Kingston sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total value of $64,897.14. Following the transaction, the insider owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,473.54. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,061,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,668,370. This represents a 13.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 345,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,097,250. 10.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRTA. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Prothena by 138.7% in the 4th quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,677,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,119,000 after buying an additional 2,136,958 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Prothena by 151.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366,764 shares during the period. Rangeley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the second quarter valued at about $4,342,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the third quarter valued at about $6,386,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 479.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 735,765 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,181,000 after acquiring an additional 608,814 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, May 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their target price on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Prothena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Prothena Company Profile

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.