Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL - Free Report) by 340.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,087 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 208,484 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $64,332,000 after purchasing an additional 57,886 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,514,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 166.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 5,220 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $802,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William John Sibold sold 1,584 shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.24, for a total transaction of $531,020.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,204,537.72. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Carole Huntsman sold 347 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.24, for a total value of $116,328.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,499,235.12. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,492 shares of company stock valued at $11,509,707 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 22.80% of the company's stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

MDGL stock traded down $6.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $301.66. The stock had a trading volume of 238,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,287. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.52. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $189.00 and a 52-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 stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of -12.03 and a beta of -0.69.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.71) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($4.32) by $1.61. The firm had revenue of $103.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.81 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -23.47 EPS for the current year.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Company 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.