The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Position in Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 15,887 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.13% of Prothena worth $972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 167.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 23,525 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,338 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 10,116 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 69,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 20,450 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Prothena by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 67,115 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prothena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,117,000. 97.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prothena Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA opened at $6.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $370.87 million, a PE ratio of -3.00 and a beta of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.63 and a 200 day moving average of $13.42. Prothena Co. plc has a one year low of $6.82 and a one year high of $25.42.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its 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 return on equity of 22.67% and a negative net margin of 90.50%. The business had revenue of $2.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.34) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5500.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Prothena Co. plc will post -4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PRTA shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Prothena from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Prothena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Prothena from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright cut their target price on shares of Prothena from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of Prothena from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.71.

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.