Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Gap Down to $26.15

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.15, but opened at $25.02. Prothena shares last traded at $25.02, with a volume of 32,260 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PRTA shares. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Prothena from $98.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Prothena from $129.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Prothena in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Prothena from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Prothena in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.63.

Prothena Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.74 and a beta of 0.21.

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

Insider Activity at Prothena

In other Prothena news, CAO Karin L. Walker sold 5,000 shares of Prothena stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 28.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in Prothena during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in Prothena in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Prothena by 265.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,544 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 61.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prothena Company Profile

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.