Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $9.50 and traded as low as $8.76. Prothena shares last traded at $8.83, with a volume of 781,724 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRTA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prothena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Prothena Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $441.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.99, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of -0.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.49.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.91. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 43.44% and a negative net margin of 260.92%.The business had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.81 million. Equities research analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.17 per share, with a total value of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,061,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,668,370. This trade represents a 13.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased 345,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,097,250 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.