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

Key Points

• Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 17 firms, with an average 12-month price target of $687.
• Recent analyst activity was mixed but generally constructive: several firms reiterated or raised buy ratings and price targets, while a few trimmed targets or stayed cautious.
• The company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue up 126.8% year over year, even though it remains unprofitable and insiders sold a small amount of stock.

Shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $687.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MDGL. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $587.00 to $578.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $649.00 price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $570.00 to $529.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $640.00 to $709.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rebecca Taub sold 491 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.94, for a total value of $212,082.54. Following the sale, the director directly owned 452,213 shares in the company, valued at $195,328,883.22. This represents a 0.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Sibold sold 1,663 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.94, for a total value of $718,316.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 161,829 shares in the company, valued at $69,900,418.26. This represents a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,942 shares of company stock valued at $3,061,673. Insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 27.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,018,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,051,727,000 after buying an additional 433,804 shares during the period. Tri Locum Partners LP lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 20.1% during the first quarter. Tri Locum Partners LP now owns 103,288 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $54,068,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 180.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,224 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 21.7% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,047 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,924,000 after buying an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 22.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,557,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the period. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.0%

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $513.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.12 and a beta of -1.04. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $615.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $504.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.46.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($3.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.61) by $0.36. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 50.15% and a negative net margin of 27.32%.The company had revenue of $311.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($3.32) earnings per share. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 126.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -6.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative therapies for cardiovascular, metabolic and liver diseases. The company's pipeline centers on novel, liver-directed agents designed to address significant unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and related metabolic disorders.

The lead product candidate, resmetirom (MGL-3196), is an orally administered, selective thyroid hormone receptor-β agonist in Phase 3 development for the treatment of NASH.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.