Prothena Corporation plc $PRTA Stake Trimmed by Palo Alto Investors LP

Key Points

• Palo Alto Investors LP reduced its stake in Prothena Corporation plc by 4.5%, selling 78,230 shares in the first quarter, maintaining approximately 3.9% of the company’s total shares.
• Prothena’s latest earnings report revealed a loss of ($1.86) per share, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $4.42 million compared to projected $5.36 million.
• Recently, equities research analysts have given mixed reviews on Prothena, with four buy ratings, four holds, and one sell rating; the average price target is set at $22.00.

Palo Alto Investors LP lessened its stake in shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,659,734 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 78,230 shares during the period. Prothena accounts for approximately 3.9% of Palo Alto Investors LP's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Palo Alto Investors LP owned 3.08% of Prothena worth $20,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,269 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,524 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 14,512 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,836 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 4,626.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,002 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 5,875 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company's stock.

Prothena Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PRTA traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,128,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,019,044. Prothena Corporation plc has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $22.71. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $7.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $460.25 million, a PE ratio of -1.52 and a beta of -0.04.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.86) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.75). Prothena had a negative net margin of 2,929.30% and a negative return on equity of 62.17%. The business had revenue of $4.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 million. Research analysts anticipate that Prothena Corporation plc will post -4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Chardan Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Prothena from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prothena from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $6.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Prothena from $81.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of Prothena from $29.00 to $11.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.75.

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.