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

Shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.46 and traded as low as $8.51. Prothena shares last traded at $8.75, with a volume of 647,643 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Prothena Stock Up 0.9%

The stock has a market cap of $458.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of -0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.22 and its 200-day moving average is $9.46.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.91. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 43.44% and a negative net margin of 260.92%.The company had revenue of $51.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.81 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Prothena

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully acquired 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,061,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,668,370. This represents a 13.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 345,000 shares of company stock worth $3,097,250. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prothena

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRTA. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Prothena by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Prothena by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 12,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Prothena by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Prothena by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,795 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 2,251 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Prothena by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 81,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

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.