Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder Acquires 103,500 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder William Scully purchased 103,500 Prothena shares at an average of $8.60 apiece, investing $890,100 and increasing his holdings by 123.95% to 187,000 shares.
• Prothena shares traded at $8.78, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $7.73 to $11.80. The company recently exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates but remains unprofitable.
• Institutional investors own 97.08% of Prothena, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $24.57, despite some recent downgrades.

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) major shareholder William Scully acquired 103,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.60 per share, for a total transaction of $890,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 187,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,608,200. This represents a 123.95% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Prothena Stock Performance

PRTA traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.78. The stock had a trading volume of 544,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,568. Prothena Corporation plc has a 1 year low of $7.73 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.91 and a 200 day moving average of $9.37. The company has a market cap of $459.63 million, a P/E ratio of -10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of -0.33.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Prothena by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322,669 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 8.5% during the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,581,443 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,372,000 after purchasing an additional 123,679 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 worth $7,606,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 39.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 607,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,905,000 after purchasing an additional 172,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penbrook Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prothena in the first quarter worth about $2,641,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PRTA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prothena from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Prothena from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Prothena presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.57.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc NASDAQ: PRTA is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative and other protein-misfolding diseases. The company's research is based on targeting abnormal proteins and the biological processes associated with their accumulation in tissue.

Prothena's lead programs include birtamimab, an investigational antibody being developed for patients with AL amyloidosis, and prasinezumab, an investigational antibody targeting alpha-synuclein for Parkinson's disease.

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