Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder William Scully Purchases 100,000 Shares of Stock

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 100,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $857,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 314,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,690,980. This trade represents a 46.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of PRTA traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $8.11. 298,914 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,073. Prothena Corporation plc has a twelve month low of $7.73 and a twelve month high of $11.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $424.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 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) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.42 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Prothena by 36.0% during the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,669 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Prothena by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares in the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in Prothena by 93.0% in the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 207,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 99,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penbrook Management LLC acquired a new stake in Prothena during the 1st quarter worth about $2,641,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Company Profile

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding or abnormal protein accumulation. Its research programs target neurological and systemic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and transthyretin amyloidosis.

The company’s pipeline has included PRX012, an investigational next-generation antibody targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer’s disease; prasinezumab, an anti-alpha-synuclein antibody being developed for Parkinson’s disease through a collaboration with Roche; and birtamimab, an investigational treatment designed to target misfolded light chains associated with AL amyloidosis.