Paulson & CO. Inc. Takes $719.52 Million Position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $MDGL

Paulson & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,340,020 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $719,524,000. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals makes up about 27.9% of Paulson & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Paulson & CO. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $309,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $1,163,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 73.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,542 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after purchasing an additional 7,438 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,416 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,087,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $418,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of MDGL stock opened at $512.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.73 and a beta of -1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $524.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $501.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $393.61 and a 12 month high of $615.00.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 56.65% and a negative net margin of 25.32%.Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.90) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Shannon T. Kelley sold 664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,908,765.78. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider David Soergel sold 1,042 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.74, for a total transaction of $516,561.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,033 shares in the company, valued at $4,973,759.42. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MDGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, July 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $685.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $964.00 to $962.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $699.64.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative therapies for cardiovascular, metabolic and liver diseases. The company’s pipeline centers on novel, liver-directed agents designed to address significant unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and related metabolic disorders.

The lead product candidate, resmetirom (MGL-3196), is an orally administered, selective thyroid hormone receptor-β agonist in Phase 3 development for the treatment of NASH.