Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $21.91

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $21.91 and last traded at $22.18, with a volume of 40918 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Prothena from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Prothena from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Prothena from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.63.

Prothena Trading Down 3.1 %

The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.15 and a beta of 0.21. The company's 50 day moving average price is $26.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.03.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.03). Prothena had a negative net margin of 160.91% and a negative return on equity of 24.84%. The firm had revenue of $0.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. Prothena's revenue for the quarter was down 99.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Prothena

In other Prothena news, CAO Karin L. Walker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total value of $170,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 28.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in Prothena in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,375 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena in the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Prothena by 265.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,544 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.