ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Stock Price Up 9% – Should You Buy?

ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK)’s share price shot up 9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $2.14 and last traded at $2.1250. 1,008,158 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 940,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PROK. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ProKidney to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered ProKidney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ProKidney in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.40.

ProKidney Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.34. The company has a market capitalization of $658.19 million, a PE ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 1.84.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $0.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. On average, analysts expect that ProKidney Corp. will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in ProKidney by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,503,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,369,000 after purchasing an additional 583,983 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of ProKidney by 17,000,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of ProKidney by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 128,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 23,924 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of ProKidney in the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in ProKidney during the 4th quarter worth $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.59% of the company’s stock.

About ProKidney

ProKidney, Inc (NASDAQ: PROK) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing cell-based therapies for kidney diseases. The company’s research and development activities center on harnessing human-derived proximal tubule cells to address conditions such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). By targeting the underlying cellular mechanisms of renal injury and dysfunction, ProKidney aims to offer novel regenerative medicine approaches that go beyond current supportive care options.

ProKidney’s lead programs utilize proprietary methods for isolating and expanding renal epithelial cells to create injectable therapeutic products.