Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares of Prothena crossed above its 200-day moving average ($9.75) on Friday, trading as high as $10.99 and last at $10.90 on volume of 486,483, signaling a short-term technical breakout.
• Analyst views are mixed: MarketBeat's consensus is a "Hold" with an average target of $21.67, while individual ratings range from Weiss's "Sell" to Citigroup's "Market Outperform" and Stifel's $19 target.
• Fundamentals remain weak — Q4 EPS was ($0.44) (slightly beating estimates) with only $0.02M revenue, a deeply negative net margin and analysts forecasting roughly -4.04 EPS for the year, highlighting continued operating losses despite the price uptick.

Shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.75 and traded as high as $10.99. Prothena shares last traded at $10.90, with a volume of 486,483 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Prothena from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $19.00 target price on Prothena in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prothena has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.67.

Prothena Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $586.75 million, a PE ratio of -2.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of -0.33. The business's fifty day moving average price is $9.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.75.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $0.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.67 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 2,520.57% and a negative return on equity of 65.89%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prothena Corporation plc will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Prothena by 571.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,709 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 10,815 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 650.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,246 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 8,880 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Prothena during the 3rd quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at $108,000. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prothena Company Profile

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases driven by misfolded proteins. The company’s research focuses on immunotherapies and small molecules designed to target and clear disease-causing protein aggregates. Prothena leverages proprietary protein engineering and antibody discovery platforms to advance candidates through preclinical and clinical stages.

The company’s most advanced program is an antibody targeting aggregated alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease, currently in mid-stage clinical trials.

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