Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Acquires 100,000 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder William Scully purchased 100,000 Prothena shares at an average price of $8.57, investing $857,000 and increasing his direct stake by 46.73% to 314,000 shares.
• PRTA shares fell 1.9% to $8.11, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Prothena recently reported a quarterly loss of $0.32 per share, which was better than analysts’ expected loss of $0.39.
• Institutional investors own 97.08% of Prothena, while analyst sentiment remains a consensus “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $24.57.

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) major shareholder William Scully purchased 100,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $857,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 314,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,690,980. The trade was a 46.73% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Trading Down 1.9%

PRTA stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.11. 298,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,073. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.34. Prothena Corporation plc has a 12-month low of $7.73 and a 12-month high of $11.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $424.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of -0.29.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.42 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRTA. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Prothena by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,669 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prothena by 8.5% in the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 39.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,905,000 after buying an additional 172,000 shares during the period. Finally, Penbrook Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prothena during the first quarter worth approximately $2,641,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PRTA. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prothena from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Prothena from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prothena has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.57.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding or abnormal protein accumulation. Its research programs target neurological and systemic disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and transthyretin amyloidosis.

The company's pipeline has included PRX012, an investigational next-generation antibody targeting amyloid beta for Alzheimer's disease; prasinezumab, an anti-alpha-synuclein antibody being developed for Parkinson's disease through a collaboration with Roche; and birtamimab, an investigational treatment designed to target misfolded light chains associated with AL amyloidosis.

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