Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $460.00 to $560.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $459.54 and last traded at $458.97, with a volume of 332508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $443.10.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $483.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $523.00 price target (up from $458.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William John Sibold sold 7,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.18, for a total value of $3,047,770.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 109,753 shares in the company, valued at $43,920,955.54. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bros. Advisors Lp Baker purchased 68,618 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $364.04 per share, with a total value of $24,979,696.72. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,859,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,783,487.64. This trade represents a 3.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 165,683 shares of company stock worth $61,921,142 and sold 309,019 shares worth $112,705,072. 21.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 412.5% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 82 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 825.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 111 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 4.78 and a current ratio of 5.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $335.24. The stock has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.69 and a beta of -1.02.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.90) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.48) by $1.58. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 38.38% and a negative net margin of 54.68%.The firm had revenue of $212.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($7.10) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1357.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -23.47 EPS for the current year.

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.