Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Purchases 19,627 Shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Free Report) by 124.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,627 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.16% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals worth $10,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDGL. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $114,717,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $39,447,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 261.3% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 160,782 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $49,613,000 after acquiring an additional 116,285 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $35,514,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 867,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $267,792,000 after acquiring an additional 84,305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James M. Daly sold 15,470 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.45, for a total value of $5,375,051.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $664,324.40. This trade represents a 89.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert E. Waltermire sold 14,113 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.32, for a total value of $4,817,049.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,272,440.96. The trade was a 79.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,810 shares of company stock valued at $10,610,594. Corporate insiders own 21.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $443.00 price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price objective (up previously from $422.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $441.00 to $458.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $378.00 to $469.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $416.33.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $290.96. The stock had a trading volume of 293,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,348. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $317.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.60 and a beta of -0.91. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $200.63 and a 12-month high of $377.46. The company has a quick ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 5.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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