JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 608,814 Shares of Prothena Corporation plc $PRTA

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase increased its stake in Prothena by 479.6%, buying 608,814 shares to hold 735,765 shares (about 1.37%) worth roughly $7.18 million at quarter-end.
• Prothena remains unprofitable: it reported EPS of -$0.44 (beating estimates by $0.01) but revenue of $0.02M versus $0.67M expected, a market cap near $498M and a share price around $9.25.
• Analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.67, while individual firms' targets and ratings range from strong buy to sell.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Free Report) by 479.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 735,765 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 608,814 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.37% of Prothena worth $7,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Prothena in the first quarter worth approximately $230,000. Creative Planning raised its position in Prothena by 373.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,569 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 39,879 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 184.0% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 36,331 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 72.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 59,965 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 25,129 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Prothena by 7,956.6% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,196 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 95,002 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.08% of the company's stock.

Prothena Trading Down 0.1%

PRTA opened at $9.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $497.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.04, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of -0.24. Prothena Corporation plc has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $12.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.59.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $0.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.67 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 65.89% and a negative net margin of 2,520.57%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post -4.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PRTA. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $19.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.67.

Prothena 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.