Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 172,000 Shares of Prothena Corporation plc $PRTA

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) by 39.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Prothena were worth $5,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PRTA. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena in the 1st quarter valued at $168,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 782,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,606,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 2.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 136,322 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 3,622 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Prothena by 134.6% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 65,070 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 37,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in Prothena in the first quarter valued at about $146,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prothena Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PRTA opened at $8.49 on Thursday. Prothena Corporation plc has a 1-year low of $7.28 and a 1-year high of $11.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $444.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of -0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $8.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.41.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.81 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 43.44% and a negative net margin of 260.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prothena from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anne Evans Kingston sold 7,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.47, for a total transaction of $64,897.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,473.54. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder William P. Scully bought 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.17 per share, with a total value of $1,021,250.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,061,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,668,370. This represents a 13.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 345,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,097,250 in the last 90 days. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.