Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Crosses Below 200-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Prothena's stock price has dropped below its 200-day moving average, currently trading at $7.54 compared to the average of $9.53.
• Analysts have downgraded their ratings on Prothena, with Jefferies setting a target price of $6.00 and Oppenheimer moving from "outperform" to "market perform."
• The company reported a loss of ($1.86) EPS for the last quarter, missing expectations and has a negative return on equity of 62.17%.

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.53 and traded as low as $7.50. Prothena shares last traded at $7.54, with a volume of 906,550 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRTA. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Prothena from $110.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Prothena from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $6.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Chardan Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Prothena Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $444.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.46 and a beta of -0.03.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.86) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.75). The firm had revenue of $4.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 2,929.30% and a negative return on equity of 62.17%. Research analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Prothena by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,199,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $64,344,000 after buying an additional 68,652 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its position in Prothena by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,236,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,573,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. lifted its position in Prothena by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 1,283,555 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,884,000 after acquiring an additional 183,715 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Prothena by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,181,087 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,169,000 after acquiring an additional 634,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Prothena in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,176,000. 97.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.