Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Upgraded by B. Riley to “Strong-Buy” Rating

B. Riley upgraded shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

MDGL has been the subject of a number of other reports. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $427.00 price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $378.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.25.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.7 %

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $335.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.39 and a beta of -0.38. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $189.00 and a 1-year high of $377.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.69. The company has a current ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 5.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.71) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.32) by $1.61. The company had revenue of $103.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.81 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -23.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William John Sibold sold 1,584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.24, for a total value of $531,020.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,204,537.72. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Shannon T. Kelley sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.41, for a total value of $75,734.57. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 7,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,106,624.05. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,690 shares of company stock worth $2,692,601. 22.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,299 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 47.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 8.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,292 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 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.