ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Shares Up 21.1% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• ProKidney Corp. shares surged 21.1% during trading on Thursday, reaching a last trading price of $2.62 after closing at $2.16. However, trading volume was down significantly, decreasing 83% from the average.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock; while Guggenheim and Citigroup maintain buy ratings with target prices of $7.00 and $9.00 respectively, Zacks downgraded it to a hold rating.
• ProKidney, a biotechnology company focused on chronic kidney disease therapy, reported a quarterly earnings per share of ($0.13), slightly beating estimates, and has a market capitalization of approximately $840 million.

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 21.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $2.51 and last traded at $2.62. 924,098 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,332,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PROK. Zacks Research downgraded ProKidney from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (up from $6.00) on shares of ProKidney in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 target price (up from $6.00) on shares of ProKidney in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on ProKidney from $4.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded ProKidney from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $1.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.25.

ProKidney Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $840.17 million, a P/E ratio of -4.99 and a beta of 1.74.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $0.22 million during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ProKidney news, insider Darin J. Weber sold 103,480 shares of the company'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 transaction of $312,509.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 41.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProKidney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in ProKidney by 3,024.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,668,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,243 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in ProKidney during the second quarter valued at about $350,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in ProKidney during the second quarter valued at about $274,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ProKidney in the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ProKidney by 48.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,277 shares of the company's stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 275,630 shares in the last quarter. 51.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ProKidney

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.

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