Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Trading Up 10.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)’s share price traded up 10.5% on Tuesday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to a neutral rating. Bank of America now has a $445.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $266.00. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $454.98 and last traded at $455.8450. 425,857 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 366,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.35.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $523.00 target price (up previously from $458.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.73.

Insider Activity

In other Madrigal Pharmaceuticals news, Director Kenneth Bate sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.20, for a total value of $3,652,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,627 shares in the company, valued at $959,380.40. The trade was a 79.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca Taub sold 43,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.69, for a total transaction of $15,388,216.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 461,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,988,740.36. The trade was a 8.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 165,683 shares of company stock valued at $61,921,142 and sold 248,642 shares valued at $91,388,103. Corporate insiders own 21.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 221.7% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 74 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $433.67 and a 200 day moving average of $353.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of -35.87 and a beta of -1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 4.78, a current ratio of 5.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($5.08) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.01) by ($3.07). The company had revenue of $287.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.33 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 38.38% and a negative net margin of 54.68%. Equities research analysts predict 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.