Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,584,532 shares, an increase of 40.1% from the December 15th total of 4,699,126 shares. Currently, 13.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 827,377 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 827,377 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.0 days. Currently, 13.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $19.00 price target on Prothena in a report on Monday, December 1st. Chardan Capital upgraded shares of Prothena to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. JMP Securities set a $19.00 price target on shares of Prothena in a research report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Prothena from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.60.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Prothena

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC raised its stake in Prothena by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,236,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,573,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Prothena in the third quarter worth about $15,034,000. Palo Alto Investors LP raised its position in shares of Prothena by 3.9% in the third quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP now owns 1,324,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,923,000 after purchasing an additional 49,275 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prothena by 116.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,181,087 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,169,000 after buying an additional 634,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Prothena in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,176,000. Institutional investors own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Prothena Stock Performance

PRTA traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.35. The company had a trading volume of 761,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,151. Prothena has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $16.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.95. The stock has a market cap of $503.31 million, a PE ratio of -1.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of -0.09.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.67) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.07). Prothena had a negative return on equity of 65.89% and a negative net margin of 2,379.59%.The company had revenue of $2.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Prothena will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Prothena Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases driven by misfolded proteins. The company’s research focuses on immunotherapies and small molecules designed to target and clear disease-causing protein aggregates. Prothena leverages proprietary protein engineering and antibody discovery platforms to advance candidates through preclinical and clinical stages.

The company’s most advanced program is an antibody targeting aggregated alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease, currently in mid-stage clinical trials.

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