ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $4.00 to $3.00. The stock had previously closed at $2.40, but opened at $2.31. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. ProKidney shares last traded at $2.38, with a volume of 43,155 shares trading hands.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on ProKidney from $15.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ProKidney news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital purchased 8,264,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.42 per share, with a total value of $19,999,998.04. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 71,560,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $173,175,458.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Pablo G. Legorreta acquired 22,617,909 shares of ProKidney stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.42 per share, for a total transaction of $54,735,339.78. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,617,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,735,339.78. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Control Empresarial De Capital acquired 8,264,462 shares of ProKidney stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.42 per share, for a total transaction of $19,999,998.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 71,560,107 shares in the company, valued at $173,175,458.94. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 41.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zullo Investment Group Inc. purchased a new position in ProKidney during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney in the 2nd quarter valued at $60,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney in the 2nd quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. 51.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ProKidney Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $499.97 million, a PE ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 1.10.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.01. Research analysts expect that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About ProKidney

ProKidney Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, provides transformative proprietary cell therapy platform for treating various chronic kidney diseases in the United States. The company's lead product is Renal Autologous Cell Therapy (REACT), an autologous homologous cell admixture, which has completed Phase I clinical trial for REACT in patients with congenital anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), as well as in Phase III and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe diabetic kidney disease.