MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of MeiraGTx from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded MeiraGTx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of MeiraGTx in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MeiraGTx in a research report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MeiraGTx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.71.

MeiraGTx Stock Down 1.3%

MGTX opened at $10.91 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.06. MeiraGTx has a twelve month low of $6.62 and a twelve month high of $15.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 3.76 and a current ratio of 3.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 1.27.

MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $2.17. The company had revenue of $321.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.70 million. MeiraGTx had a return on equity of 283.85% and a net margin of 19.87%. Research analysts forecast that MeiraGTx will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stuart Naylor sold 27,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.80, for a total value of $409,353.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 640,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,484,520.80. This trade represents a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Richard Giroux sold 56,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.51, for a total transaction of $700,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 908,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,365,710.30. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 145,659 shares of company stock worth $1,969,233 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MeiraGTx

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opaleye Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MeiraGTx by 67.2% during the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 3,550,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,741 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in MeiraGTx by 157.8% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 69,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 42,292 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in MeiraGTx by 773.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 162,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 143,828 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in MeiraGTx during the second quarter worth $207,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in MeiraGTx during the second quarter worth $421,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.48% of the company’s stock.

MeiraGTx Company Profile

MeiraGTx Holdings plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for serious diseases with limited treatment options. The company uses adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and other genetic medicine technologies to deliver therapeutic genes to targeted tissues, with an emphasis on disorders affecting the central nervous system, the eye and other organs.

MeiraGTx’s pipeline has included botaretigene sparoparvovec, an investigational AAV-based gene therapy for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa caused by mutations in the RPGR gene.