Insider Buying: Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Acquires $255,690.00 in Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 27,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.47 per share, with a total value of $255,690.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 827,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,831,690. This represents a 3.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prothena Trading Up 2.3%

PRTA stock opened at $9.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.08 million, a PE ratio of -11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of -0.33. Prothena Corporation plc has a 12-month low of $7.73 and a 12-month high of $11.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.41.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. 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 set a $30.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.57.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Prothena by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 12,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Prothena by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Prothena by 2.5% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Prothena by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 81,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares during the period. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.