Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Earns Buy Rating from UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has raised its price target for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) from $458.00 to $523.00, indicating a potential upside of 48.19% from the company's previous close.
• Madrigal Pharmaceuticals recently reported a significant earnings surprise, with earnings per share of ($1.90), beating estimates by $1.58, and quarterly revenue up 1357.5% year-over-year.
• Insider activity showed notable sales, with Director Paul A. Friedman and another board member collectively selling 2,400 shares recently, impacting the ownership structure.

UBS Group restated their buy rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $523.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $458.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MDGL. Wall Street Zen raised Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $443.00 target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 target price (up previously from $422.00) on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $439.71.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

MDGL traded down $2.09 on Tuesday, hitting $371.37. 322,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 430,741. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $200.63 and a 12 month high of $377.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $308.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 5.11 and a quick ratio of 4.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.90 and a beta of -1.02.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.90) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.48) by $1.58. The business had revenue of $212.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $158.94 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 54.68% and a negative return on equity of 38.38%. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 1357.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($7.10) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -23.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Paul A. Friedman sold 129,172 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.24, for a total value of $47,824,641.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 187,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,295,599.36. This represents a 40.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rebecca Taub sold 43,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.69, for a total value of $15,388,216.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 461,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,988,740.36. This represents a 8.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 282,820 shares of company stock valued at $102,281,936 in the last ninety days. 21.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 5,220 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 34,923 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,776,000 after buying an additional 5,604 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,001 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,629,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 120.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the company's stock.

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.