ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Trading 5.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ProKidney Stock Up 11.6 %

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

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14). On average, equities research analysts forecast that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other ProKidney news, insider Darin J. Weber sold 16,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $41,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 103,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,700. This represents a 13.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 41.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProKidney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PROK. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ProKidney by 32.1% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 12,341,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,695,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ProKidney by 102.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,203,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,933 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in ProKidney by 16.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,428,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,742,000 after buying an additional 198,836 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in ProKidney by 150.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 749,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 450,548 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.