Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Reaches New 12-Month Low at $20.32

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $20.32 and last traded at $20.46, with a volume of 24302 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PRTA. JMP Securities increased their price target on Prothena from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down previously from $68.00) on shares of Prothena in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Prothena from $98.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.14.

Prothena Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.22.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $0.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.84% and a negative net margin of 160.91%. Prothena’s revenue was down 99.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Prothena by 3.9% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,908 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 4.9% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 11,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 99.0% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,375 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 125,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 1.9% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 39,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

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.