MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

MGTX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on MeiraGTx in a report on Thursday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MeiraGTx from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MeiraGTx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of MeiraGTx in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of MeiraGTx from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

MeiraGTx Price Performance

MGTX opened at $9.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.18 and a 200 day moving average of $11.41. The company has a market cap of $884.53 million, a PE ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 1.35. MeiraGTx has a 12 month low of $6.62 and a 12 month high of $15.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $2.17. MeiraGTx had a net margin of 19.87% and a return on equity of 283.85%. The business had revenue of $321.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.70 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MeiraGTx will post 0.30 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MeiraGTx

In related news, CFO Richard Giroux sold 56,000 shares of MeiraGTx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.95, for a total transaction of $557,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 852,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,482,673.50. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Alexandria Forbes sold 62,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $859,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,325,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,374,132.70. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 145,659 shares of company stock valued at $1,710,812. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MeiraGTx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of MeiraGTx during the third quarter worth about $2,479,000. Opaleye Management Inc. raised its stake in MeiraGTx by 67.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in MeiraGTx by 157.8% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 69,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 42,292 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in MeiraGTx by 773.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 162,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 143,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in MeiraGTx during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 and address the underlying causes of disease.

Its research and development activities have focused primarily on disorders of the central nervous system, including neurodegenerative diseases, as well as retinal and salivary-gland conditions.