Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock: Insider William Scully Purchases 10,000 Shares

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.46 per share, for a total transaction of $84,600.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,037,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,773,020. This represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Performance

Shares of PRTA traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $8.35. 670,256 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 614,752. The company has a market capitalization of $437.12 million, a PE ratio of -9.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of -0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.31. Prothena Corporation plc has a one year low of $7.73 and a one year high of $11.80.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 analysts expect that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PRTA shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Prothena by 179.1% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in Prothena in the first quarter worth approximately $146,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Prothena in the second quarter worth approximately $148,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in Prothena in the first quarter worth approximately $168,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prothena during the 2nd quarter worth $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

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.