Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $6.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.43% from the company's current price.

PRTA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Prothena to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JMP Securities cut their price target on Prothena from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Chardan Capital reduced their price objective on Prothena from $40.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Prothena from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Prothena from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.50.

Prothena Trading Up 0.4%

Prothena stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $4.60. 6,235,293 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 661,731. Prothena has a one year low of $4.32 and a one year high of $25.42. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $9.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.66. The company has a market cap of $247.60 million, a PE ratio of -2.00 and a beta of 0.11.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $2.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.18 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 22.67% and a negative net margin of 90.50%. Prothena's revenue for the quarter was up 5500.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.34) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prothena will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 5,148 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Prothena by 4,626.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,002 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 5,875 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Prothena by 196.5% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 7,330 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 4,858 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Prothena in the 1st quarter worth about $126,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Prothena in the 4th quarter worth about $145,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.