Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 traded.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.71) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.32) by $1.61. The company had revenue of $103.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.81 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MDGL. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $427.00 target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley lifted their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $194.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Fred B. Craves sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.31, for a total value of $1,135,116.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Carole Huntsman sold 347 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.24, for a total value of $116,328.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,499,235.12. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,690 shares of company stock worth $2,692,601. 22.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Braidwell LP bought a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $39,010,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $6,875,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,280,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,367,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $393,000. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 15.0 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.18. The stock has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.19 and a beta of -0.38. The company has a current ratio of 5.98, a quick ratio of 5.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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.