Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.17 and last traded at $13.22, with a volume of 270041 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PRTA shares. StockNews.com downgraded Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Prothena from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

Prothena Trading Down 7.0 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.37. The stock has a market cap of $690.92 million, a P/E ratio of -5.18 and a beta of 0.09.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.18) by $0.08. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. The firm had revenue of $0.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Prothena by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,178,788 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,911,000 after acquiring an additional 539,359 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Prothena by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,198,000 after purchasing an additional 464,000 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 1,122.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 526,748 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,812,000 after purchasing an additional 483,673 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Prothena by 25.8% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,999,000 after buying an additional 39,771 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Prothena by 13.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 165,423 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 19,578 shares during the period. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc, a late-stage clinical biotechnology company, focuses on discovery and development of novel therapies to treat diseases caused by protein dysregulation in the United States. The company is involved in developing birtamimab, an investigational humanized antibody that is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of AL amyloidosis; Prasinezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other related synucleinopathies which is in Phase IIb clinical trial; NNC6019 that is in Phase lI clinical trial for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis; and BMS-986446 and PRX012, which is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.