Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $15.30, but opened at $16.22. Prothena shares last traded at $17.97, with a volume of 302,186 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Prothena from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Prothena from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Prothena from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.86.

Prothena Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.76.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by $2.23. The business had revenue of $132.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.73 million. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 9.00% and a negative net margin of 23.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3184.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.03) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prothena

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRTA. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in Prothena by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,560,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,198,000 after acquiring an additional 464,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prothena by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,125,283 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,873,000 after purchasing an additional 54,728 shares during the last quarter. Artal Group S.A. lifted its stake in Prothena by 99.7% during the 1st quarter. Artal Group S.A. now owns 1,001,360 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,804,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Prothena by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 39,771 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Prothena by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 165,423 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 19,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.