The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL)

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $704.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 36.29% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MDGL. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $578.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $725.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.20.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ MDGL traded up $3.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $516.56. 153,392 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 333,979. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $393.61 and a 12 month high of $615.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a PE ratio of -40.07 and a beta of -0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $526.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $513.80.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.99) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.68) by $0.69. The company had revenue of $364.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.13 million. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 25.32% and a negative return on equity of 56.65%. The company’s revenue was up 71.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.90) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will post -7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Madrigal Pharmaceuticals news, CEO William Sibold sold 5,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $542.39, for a total transaction of $2,831,818.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,255,452.94. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 Kelley sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.97, for a total transaction of $341,940.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,908,765.78. This trade 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,247 shares of company stock worth $6,581,182. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,018,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,051,727,000 after acquiring an additional 433,804 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $1,039,650,000. Paulson & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $719,524,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $644,753,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 18.8% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 825,714 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $443,367,000 after purchasing an additional 130,756 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: MDGL) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for cardiometabolic diseases, particularly nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, now commonly referred to as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

The company’s lead product is Rezdiffra (resmetirom), an oral, thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist designed to target underlying liver disease. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rezdiffra for use with diet and exercise to treat adults with noncirrhotic MASH and moderate to advanced liver fibrosis.