Prothena Co. plc (NASDAQ: PRTA) saw a sharp increase in short-term interest in October. As of October 29, there was short interest totaling 1,880,000 shares, an increase of 27.0% from the total of 1,480,000 shares as of October 14. Based on an average daily volume of 344,000 shares, the day-to-coverage ratio is currently 5.5 days.

NASDAQ PRTA shares traded up $ 4.14 at midday on Friday, reaching $ 58.73. The company had a trade volume of 351,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 415,152. The stock has a market capitalization of $ 2.74 billion, a price / earnings ratio of 57.02, a ratio PEG of 15.49 and a beta of 1.24. Prothena has a 12 month low of $ 10.72 and a 12 month high of $ 79.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $ 65.18 and its two-hundred-day simple moving average is $ 53.99.

Prothena (NASDAQ: PRTA) last reported its quarterly results on Thursday, November 4. The biotech company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $ 2.13 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $ 2.25 of ($ 0.12). Prothena recorded a return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 34.76%. During the same period of the previous year, the company posted ($ 0.77) earnings per share. Stock analysts predict that Prothena will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, insider Carol D. Karp sold 10,000 shares of the company in a trade dated Friday, October 1. The stock was sold for an average price of $ 68.23, for a total trade of $ 682,300.00. The sale was disclosed in a file with the SEC, accessible through this hyperlink. In addition, CAD Karin L. Walker sold 23,000 shares of the company in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 20. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 60.25, for a total value of $ 1,385,750.00. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. In the past 90 days, insiders have sold 68,000 shares of the company valued at $ 4,114,250. Company insiders own 30.40% of the company’s shares.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently changed their positions in PRTA. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings of Prothena shares by 106.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the biotech company valued at $ 53,000 after purchasing 530 additional shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new equity stake in Prothena in the second quarter valued at approximately $ 82,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Prothena shares by 60.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,595 shares of the biotech company valued at $ 82,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Prothena by 1,129.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,438 shares of the biotech company valued at $ 101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Prothena during the 3rd quarter for a value of $ 110,000. 91.48% of the shares are currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PRTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised its price target on Prothena from $ 90.00 to $ 100.00 and gave the company an “outperformance” rating in a research note on Monday, September 27. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a price target of $ 71.00 for the company. in a research note on Monday August 30. Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Prothena from $ 59 to $ 82.00 and gave the company an “outperformance” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 30. Fox-Davies Capital began covering Prothena in a research note on Monday, September 20. They set an “overweight” rating and a price target of $ 14.00 for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised his price target on Prothena from $ 70.00 to $ 103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report published on Friday, September 17th. Two equity research analysts rated the stock with a conservation rating and ten issued a buy rating for the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $ 65.42.

Company profile Prothena

Prothena Corp. Plc is a clinical-stage neuroscience company. He is focused on the discovery and development of new therapies to change the course of devastating diseases. The company’s clinical pipeline includes wholly owned and partnered programs under development for the potential treatment of diseases such as AL amyloidosis, ATTR amyloidosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

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