Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Stock

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $600.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.62% from the company’s previous close.

MDGL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $526.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. JMP Securities set a $527.00 price objective on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $400.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $266.00 to $445.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.50.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of MDGL opened at $547.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.64 and a beta of -1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 4.78 and a current ratio of 5.11. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $265.00 and a 1 year high of $577.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $456.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $372.65.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($5.08) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.01) by ($3.07). Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 38.38% and a negative net margin of 54.68%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -23.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Bate sold 16,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $8,027,272.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,272,256.10. This represents a 86.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William John Sibold sold 7,279 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.63, for a total transaction of $3,243,740.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,474 shares in the company, valued at $45,665,488.62. This represents a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,312 shares of company stock valued at $16,782,163. 21.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,459 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 709 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 699 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 114.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 90 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during 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.