Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at B. Riley

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) was upgraded by investment analysts at B. Riley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

MDGL has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $378.00 to $469.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $427.00 target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $360.25.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.7 %

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $335.74 on Thursday. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $189.00 and a 52-week high of $377.46. The company has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.39 and a beta of -0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 5.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.69.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.32) by $1.61. The business had revenue of $103.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.81 million. Analysts predict that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -23.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fred B. Craves sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.31, for a total transaction of $1,135,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,410. This trade represents a 24.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Carole Huntsman sold 347 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.24, for a total transaction of $116,328.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,499,235.12. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,690 shares of company stock worth $2,692,601 over the last quarter. Insiders own 22.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MDGL. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $114,717,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $49,749,000. Paulson & CO. Inc. raised its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the third quarter. Paulson & CO. Inc. now owns 2,042,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $433,353,000 after purchasing an additional 192,000 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP bought a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $39,010,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 110.2% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 309,117 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $95,384,000 after purchasing an additional 162,027 shares during the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutics for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the United States. Its lead product candidate is resmetirom, a liver-directed thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for treating NASH.