ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Shares Up 5.4% – Should You Buy?

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK)’s share price traded up 5.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $2.00 and last traded at $1.95. 31,783 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 698,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PROK. Bank of America lowered their price target on ProKidney from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of ProKidney in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on ProKidney in a report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ProKidney has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.50.

ProKidney Stock Up 11.6 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.35. The company has a market cap of $602.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 1.11.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.14). As a group, research analysts expect that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Darin J. Weber sold 16,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $41,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 103,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,700. This represents a 13.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 41.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ProKidney

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of ProKidney by 44.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 179,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 55,266 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of ProKidney by 8.8% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 76,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 6,181 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of ProKidney during the second quarter valued at approximately $124,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ProKidney during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney in the second quarter valued at $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.59% of the company’s stock.

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.