ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $9.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 20,026,508 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 568% from the previous session's volume of 2,997,090 shares.The stock last traded at $5.04 and had previously closed at $4.34.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on PROK. Wall Street Zen raised ProKidney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America downgraded ProKidney from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $1.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ProKidney currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital purchased 387,393 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $0.71 per share, with a total value of $275,049.03. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 73,842,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,428,333.33. This trade represents a 0.53% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Darin J. Weber sold 103,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.02, for a total value of $312,509.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 755,498 shares of company stock worth $545,766. 41.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ProKidney

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ProKidney by 106.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,570 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 27,098 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in ProKidney during the 1st quarter valued at $233,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in ProKidney by 49.4% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 86,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 28,546 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in ProKidney by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 825,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 65,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in ProKidney by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 239,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.59% of the company's stock.

ProKidney Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 1.26.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $0.23 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 EPS for the current year.

ProKidney Company Profile

ProKidney Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, provides transformative proprietary cell therapy platform for treating various chronic kidney diseases in the United States. The company's lead product is Renal Autologous Cell Therapy (REACT), an autologous homologous cell admixture, which has completed Phase I clinical trial for REACT in patients with congenital anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), as well as in Phase III and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe diabetic kidney disease.