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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded MeiraGTx from “Buy” to “Hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $24.71.
• MeiraGTx shares opened at $10.91, below the average analyst target, after the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.71 versus the expected loss of $0.46 and revenue of $321.43 million.
• Institutional ownership stands at 67.48%, with Johnson & Johnson and BlackRock initiating sizable positions, while insiders sold $1.97 million worth of shares over the past three months under pre-arranged trading plans.

MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on MeiraGTx from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of MeiraGTx in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MeiraGTx from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut shares of MeiraGTx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of MeiraGTx in a report on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MeiraGTx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.71.

MeiraGTx Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of MeiraGTx stock opened at $10.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $13.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 1.27. MeiraGTx has a twelve month low of $6.62 and a twelve month high of $15.35.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Alexandria Forbes sold 62,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $859,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,325,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,374,132.70. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stuart Naylor sold 27,659 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 145,659 shares of company stock valued at $1,969,233 in the last three months. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Johnson & Johnson bought a new position in shares of MeiraGTx in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,720,775. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MeiraGTx during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,269,000. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its holdings in MeiraGTx by 13.4% during the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 7,000,000 shares of the company's stock worth $60,620,000 after purchasing an additional 824,669 shares in the last quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. raised its holdings in MeiraGTx by 67.2% during the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 3,550,000 shares of the company's stock worth $47,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in MeiraGTx in the second quarter worth approximately $6,427,000. 67.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MeiraGTx

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.

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