Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) was upgraded by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

MDGL has been the topic of a number of other reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $542.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $725.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $964.00 to $962.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.20.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.0%

MDGL opened at $513.21 on Thursday. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $393.61 and a twelve month high of $615.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $527.49 and a 200-day moving average of $513.78. The stock has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a PE ratio of -39.81 and a beta of -0.98.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.68) by $0.69. The business had revenue of $364.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.13 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 25.32% and a negative return on equity of 56.65%. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.90) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -7.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William Sibold sold 6,362 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $535.59, for a total transaction of $3,407,423.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 202,967 shares in the company, valued at $108,707,095.53. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Shannon T. Kelley sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.97, for a total transaction of $341,940.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,908,765.78. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 12,247 shares of company stock worth $6,581,182 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,631 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $709,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,114 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $356,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,386 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: MDGL) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for cardiometabolic diseases, particularly nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, now commonly referred to as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

The company’s lead product is Rezdiffra (resmetirom), an oral, thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist designed to target underlying liver disease. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rezdiffra for use with diet and exercise to treat adults with noncirrhotic MASH and moderate to advanced liver fibrosis.