Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $406,000 in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC invested approximately $406,000 in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, acquiring 1,226 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Several institutional investors have also increased their stakes in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, with a high overall institutional ownership of 98.50%.
• Madrigal reported a loss of ($3.32) EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and generating revenue of $137.25 million.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $406,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,364 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $8,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,924 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 131.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 340.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,087 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $16,615,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 166.2% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the period. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Rebecca Taub sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 461,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $161,365,400. This represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul A. Friedman sold 1,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.03, for a total transaction of $490,042.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 187,164 shares in the company, valued at $65,513,014.92. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,377 shares of company stock worth $21,316,969 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 21.50% of the company's stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of MDGL stock traded up $9.94 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $312.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 404,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,258. The business has a fifty day moving average of $295.25 and a 200-day moving average of $312.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.29 and a beta of -1.02. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $200.63 and a twelve month high of $377.46. The company has a current ratio of 5.91, a quick ratio of 5.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.32) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.62) by $0.30. The business had revenue of $137.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.79 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 123.38% and a negative return on equity of 50.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($7.38) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -23.47 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $443.00 price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $422.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $394.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $441.00 to $458.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $420.63.

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.