ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Trading 8.1% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• ProKidney Corp. shares increased by 8.1% to trade at $2.62, but the volume was significantly lower than average, with only 911,140 shares traded on Wednesday.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for ProKidney, with UBS raising its target price to $8.00 while Bank of America downgraded it to $1.00, leaving an average rating of "Hold" and a target of $6.25.
• ProKidney reported an earnings result of ($0.13) EPS, slightly beating expectations, and had revenue of $0.22 million for the quarter.

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) shares traded up 8.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $2.62 and last traded at $2.62. 911,140 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,136,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on ProKidney from $4.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.00 target price (up previously from $6.00) on shares of ProKidney in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America downgraded ProKidney from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $1.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Zacks Research downgraded ProKidney from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price target (up previously from $6.00) on shares of ProKidney in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ProKidney currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.25.

ProKidney Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $763.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.55 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.64.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $0.22 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at ProKidney

In other news, insider Darin J. Weber sold 103,480 shares of the business'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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 41.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProKidney

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in ProKidney by 3,024.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,668,642 shares of the company's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,243 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of ProKidney by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 846,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 93,322 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ProKidney by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 275,630 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 65,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of ProKidney during the 2nd quarter valued at about $350,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.59% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.