Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Oppenheimer Analyst Says

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $58.00 to $62.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 341.44% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Chardan Capital started coverage on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prothena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

Prothena Price Performance

Shares of Prothena stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.05. 130,158 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,269. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.48. Prothena has a twelve month low of $11.70 and a twelve month high of $31.03. The company has a market cap of $755.76 million, a PE ratio of -5.66 and a beta of 0.08.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foundation Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at $270,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prothena in the 4th quarter valued at about $182,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Prothena by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,151 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Prothena during the 4th quarter worth approximately $149,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Prothena by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 150,238 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 19,452 shares in the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is 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.