Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from eight analysts, with one hold rating and seven buy ratings.
• The stock has shown substantial potential, with a 12-month price target averaging $439.71 among analysts, and recent price targets set as high as $523.00.
• Insider activity revealed significant sales, with Director Kenneth Bate selling 10,000 shares for approximately $3.65 million and Paul A. Friedman selling 129,172 shares for about $47.82 million in recent transactions.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $439.7143.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $443.00 price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $523.00 price objective (up from $458.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $422.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul A. Friedman sold 129,172 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.24, for a total transaction of $47,824,641.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 187,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,295,599.36. The trade was a 40.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 294,124 shares of company stock valued at $106,413,560 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 21.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MDGL. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 96.3% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 376,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $113,842,000 after purchasing an additional 184,554 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $53,406,000. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 110.2% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 309,117 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $95,384,000 after acquiring an additional 162,027 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,447,000. Finally, MPM Bioimpact LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $33,260,000. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

MDGL stock opened at $379.55 on Wednesday. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $200.63 and a one year high of $393.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $314.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.03. The company has a current ratio of 5.11, a quick ratio of 4.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of -29.54 and a beta of -1.02.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.90) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.48) by $1.58. The firm had revenue of $212.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.94 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 38.38% and a negative net margin of 54.68%.Madrigal Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 1357.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($7.10) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -23.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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