Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Price Down 2.6% – Should You Sell?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) shares traded down 2.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $14.44 and last traded at $14.49. 47,687 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 586,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Monday, September 30th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Prothena from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Chardan Capital began coverage on Prothena in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Prothena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.29.

Prothena Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $732.88 million, a P/E ratio of -5.49 and a beta of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.49 and a 200 day moving average of $18.80.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.18) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $0.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 million. Prothena had a negative net margin of 98.86% and a negative return on equity of 24.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRTA. Barclays PLC grew its position in Prothena by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 49,916 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,198,000 after acquiring an additional 464,000 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prothena by 1,122.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 526,748 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,812,000 after acquiring an additional 483,673 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prothena during the second quarter valued at approximately $905,000. Finally, Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Prothena during the third quarter worth approximately $816,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

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.