Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $13.17 and last traded at $13.22, with a volume of 270041 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRTA has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Prothena in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered Prothena from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Prothena from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prothena has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Prothena Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $690.92 million, a P/E ratio of -5.18 and a beta of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.37.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its 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. Prothena had a negative return on equity of 24.19% and a negative net margin of 98.86%. The company had revenue of $0.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Prothena Co. plc will post -2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Prothena by 182.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Prothena by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,236 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Prothena by 63.7% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prothena during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Prothena in the third quarter valued at approximately $260,000. 97.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.