Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) Stock Jumps 8.9% After Strong Earnings

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) rose 8.9% on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $482.73 and last traded at $469.5920. 211,168 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 328,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.15.

The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $2.92. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 56.65% and a negative net margin of 25.32%. The firm had revenue of $431.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $404.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($5.08) EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MDGL. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $704.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $964.00 to $962.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $699.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Madrigal Pharmaceuticals news, CEO William Sibold sold 5,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $542.39, for a total transaction of $2,831,818.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 197,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,255,452.94. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Shannon T. Kelley sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.97, for a total value of $341,940.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,908,765.78. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,247 shares of company stock valued at $6,581,182. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MDGL. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $219,000. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 83.3% in the third quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 3,009 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 56.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $69,000. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $496.95 and a 200 day moving average of $499.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 2.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.53 and a beta of -1.04.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, now known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and other chronic liver diseases. The company is headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

Madrigal’s lead product is Rezdiffra (resmetirom), an orally administered thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist designed to target key drivers of liver disease, including hepatic fat accumulation and fibrosis.