Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Upgraded to Outperform at Wolfe Research

Key Points

• Wolfe Research upgraded Madrigal Pharmaceuticals to “outperform” from “peer perform,” assigning a $605 price target that implies roughly 25.5% upside.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: 15 analysts rate MDGL a Buy, two a Hold, and one a Sell, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $689.93.
• Madrigal’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with an adjusted loss of $1.99 per share versus the $2.68 estimate and revenue of $364.25 million, up 71.2% year over year.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $605.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wolfe Research's price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.52% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MDGL. Evercore set a $649.00 target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $964.00 to $962.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $689.93.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.1%

MDGL opened at $482.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of -37.39 and a beta of -1.01. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $299.17 and a twelve month high of $615.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $515.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $498.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.99) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.68) by $0.69. The company had revenue of $364.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.13 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 56.65% and a negative net margin of 25.32%.Madrigal Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 71.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.90) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider David Soergel sold 1,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.74, for a total transaction of $516,561.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,973,759.42. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard S. Levy sold 5,682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.44, for a total transaction of $2,928,730.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,015 shares in the company, valued at $11,347,411.60. This represents a 20.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 7,568 shares of company stock valued at $3,880,711 over the last 90 days. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDGL. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 94 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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