Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) by 32.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 207,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 99,377 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.95% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals worth $64,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Braidwell LP bought a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $39,010,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,367,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $393,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $1,036,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 405,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MDGL opened at $337.27 on Friday. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $189.00 and a fifty-two week high of $377.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 5.93 and a current ratio of 5.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $332.24 and its 200 day moving average is $296.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of -13.45 and a beta of -0.41.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James M. Daly sold 15,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.45, for a total value of $5,375,051.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $664,324.40. This represents a 89.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Carole Huntsman sold 347 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.24, for a total transaction of $116,328.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,499,235.12. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,900 shares of company stock valued at $12,168,079 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 22.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $378.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley raised Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $422.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $427.00 price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.44.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.