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

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $6.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 30.72% from the company's current price.

PRTA has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Prothena from $94.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Prothena to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Prothena from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prothena from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on Prothena from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.50.

Prothena Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.59. 1,963,387 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,990. Prothena has a one year low of $4.32 and a one year high of $25.42. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $8.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.48. The stock has a market cap of $247.07 million, a P/E ratio of -2.00 and a beta of 0.11.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by ($0.20). Prothena had a negative net margin of 90.50% and a negative return on equity of 22.67%. The business had revenue of $2.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.34) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5500.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Prothena will post -4.04 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRTA. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prothena by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 5,148 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Prothena by 4,626.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,858 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prothena in the first quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by 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.