Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock: Insider William Scully Acquires 100,000 Shares

Key Points

• Major shareholder William Scully bought 100,000 Prothena shares at an average price of $8.19, investing $819,000 and increasing his ownership by 9.64% to 1.137 million shares.
• Prothena shares rose 2.4% to $8.40, but remain below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages; the stock has traded between $7.73 and $11.80 over the past year.
• Analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $24.57, while institutional investors own 97.08% of the company. Prothena recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue expectations but continues to report negative profitability.

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) major shareholder William Scully acquired 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.19 per share, with a total value of $819,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,137,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,312,030. This trade represents a 9.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Up 2.4%

Prothena stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $8.40. The company had a trading volume of 594,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,111. Prothena Corporation plc has a 52 week low of $7.73 and a 52 week high of $11.80. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $8.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of -0.29.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.45% and a negative net margin of 80.68%. On average, analysts predict that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PRTA. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prothena from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prothena from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 179.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new position in shares of Prothena in the 1st quarter valued at about $146,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Prothena during the second quarter worth approximately $148,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in Prothena during the first quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prothena in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company's stock.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc NASDAQ: PRTA is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel medicines for serious neurodegenerative and rare peripheral diseases. Its research is centered on disease-causing proteins, including amyloid-beta, alpha-synuclein and transthyretin, with the goal of creating antibody-based therapies that address underlying disease mechanisms.

The company's product pipeline has included birtamimab, an investigational antibody being developed for the treatment of AL amyloidosis, and prasinezumab, an investigational alpha-synuclein antibody being developed in collaboration with Roche for certain forms of Parkinson's disease.

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