Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $309.49, but opened at $335.00. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $352.46, with a volume of 171,538 shares trading hands.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.32) by $1.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MDGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $194.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $427.00 target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Fred B. Craves sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.31, for a total transaction of $1,135,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,410. This trade represents a 24.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Rebecca Taub sold 1,689 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.41, for a total transaction of $461,789.49. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 457,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,033,127.10. This represents a 0.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,690 shares of company stock valued at $2,692,601 in the last three months. 22.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paulson & CO. Inc. raised its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the third quarter. Paulson & CO. Inc. now owns 2,042,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $433,353,000 after acquiring an additional 192,000 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 1,993,687 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $423,100,000 after purchasing an additional 77,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 887,752 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $188,399,000 after purchasing an additional 143,038 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 867,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $267,792,000 after purchasing an additional 84,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 410,578 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $126,719,000 after purchasing an additional 4,923 shares during the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 5.98 and a quick ratio of 5.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.04 and a beta of -0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $320.09 and its 200-day moving average is $282.67.

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.