JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stake in Prothena Corporation plc $PRTA

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) by 479.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 735,765 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 608,814 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Prothena were worth $7,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 876,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,555,000 after purchasing an additional 183,374 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Prothena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $294,000. Palo Alto Investors LP increased its position in Prothena by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP now owns 1,324,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,923,000 after buying an additional 49,275 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Prothena by 52.8% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 590,897 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,767,000 after buying an additional 204,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Prothena by 264.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 621,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,062,000 after buying an additional 450,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Stock Performance

Prothena stock opened at $9.25 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.59. The company has a market cap of $497.93 million, a PE ratio of -2.04, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of -0.24. Prothena Corporation plc has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $12.70.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.01. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 65.89% and a negative net margin of 2,520.57%.The firm had revenue of $0.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.67 million. As a group, analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post -4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citizens Jmp set a $19.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.67.

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.