Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases New Shares in MeiraGTx Holdings PLC $MGTX

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management acquired 225,363 MeiraGTx shares worth approximately $2.48 million, while institutional investors collectively owned 67.48% of the company.
• Insiders sold 145,659 shares valued at about $1.71 million over the past three months, including sales by CEO Alexandria Forbes and insider Stuart Naylor under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $24 target price, compared with MGTX’s opening price of $9.86. The company also reported quarterly EPS of $1.71, far exceeding the $0.46 loss analysts expected.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of MeiraGTx Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:MGTX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 225,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,479,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.23% of MeiraGTx at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MGTX. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in MeiraGTx by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 7,000,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,620,000 after buying an additional 824,669 shares in the last quarter. Johnson & Johnson acquired a new stake in MeiraGTx during the 2nd quarter valued at $89,720,775. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in MeiraGTx during the 2nd quarter valued at $64,269,000. Opaleye Management Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,426,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in MeiraGTx during the second quarter worth $6,427,000. 67.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Alexandria Forbes sold 62,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.86, for a total value of $859,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,325,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,374,132.70. The trade was a 4.47% 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 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.64, for a total transaction of $294,291.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 613,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,524,309.68. The trade was a 4.32% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 145,659 shares of company stock valued at $1,710,812. Insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of MeiraGTx in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on MeiraGTx from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MeiraGTx in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MeiraGTx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of MeiraGTx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

MeiraGTx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MGTX opened at $9.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $946.95 million, a P/E ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. MeiraGTx Holdings PLC has a 52 week low of $6.62 and a 52 week high of $15.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.41.

MeiraGTx (NASDAQ:MGTX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $321.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.70 million. MeiraGTx had a return on equity of 283.85% and a net margin of 19.87%. Equities research analysts forecast that MeiraGTx Holdings PLC will post 0.30 EPS for the current year.

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.

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