Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Raised to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $542.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $964.00 to $962.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $710.20.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ MDGL opened at $513.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $527.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.81 and a beta of -0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.20. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $393.61 and a fifty-two week high of $615.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Madrigal Pharmaceuticals news, CEO William Sibold sold 5,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $542.39, for a total transaction of $2,831,818.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,746 shares in the company, valued at $107,255,452.94. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 Kelley sold 664 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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 position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,247 shares of company stock worth $6,581,182. 17.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 172 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 1,385.7% during the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 208 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.