ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Trading Up 8% – Time to Buy?

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK) shares shot up 8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1.7850 and last traded at $1.8250. 176,161 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 881,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PROK. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ProKidney to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ProKidney in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ProKidney from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of ProKidney in a report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ProKidney has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.40.

ProKidney Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $1.86 and its 200 day moving average is $2.12. The stock has a market cap of $533.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 1.70.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $0.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.10 million. As a group, analysts forecast that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of ProKidney in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in ProKidney in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in ProKidney in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ProKidney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney during the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. Institutional investors own 51.59% of the company’s stock.

ProKidney Company Profile

ProKidney, Inc (NASDAQ: PROK) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing cell-based therapies for kidney diseases. The company’s research and development activities center on harnessing human-derived proximal tubule cells to address conditions such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). By targeting the underlying cellular mechanisms of renal injury and dysfunction, ProKidney aims to offer novel regenerative medicine approaches that go beyond current supportive care options.

ProKidney’s lead programs utilize proprietary methods for isolating and expanding renal epithelial cells to create injectable therapeutic products.