CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Boosts Holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Free Report) by 81.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,334 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDGL. Pitcairn Co. lifted its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,774 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MDGL shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $378.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $394.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $443.00 target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price target (up previously from $422.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $416.33.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of MDGL traded down $5.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $310.48. 34,297 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,841. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $200.08 and a 52-week high of $377.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 5.93 and a current ratio of 5.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $325.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.37. The firm has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.35 and a beta of -0.91.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($3.62) by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $137.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($7.38) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -23.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James M. Daly sold 15,470 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.45, for a total value of $5,375,051.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,912 shares in the company, valued at $664,324.40. The trade was a 89.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert E. Waltermire sold 14,113 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.32, for a total transaction of $4,817,049.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,272,440.96. This represents a 79.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,810 shares of company stock worth $10,610,594 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.80% of the company's stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.