Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) by 46.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,626 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $2,459,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,466,000. Sofinnova Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 133.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sofinnova Investments Inc. now owns 44,417 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,444,000 after acquiring an additional 25,388 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Madrigal Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,335,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 111,113 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,130,000 after acquiring an additional 13,361 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William John Sibold sold 6,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.83, for a total transaction of $1,551,490.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,887 shares in the company, valued at $13,626,927.21. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard S. Levy sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.94, for a total value of $1,504,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,313,951.28. This represents a 31.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 22.80% of the company’s stock.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

MDGL stock opened at $347.45 on Monday. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.25 and a 1 year high of $368.29. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $252.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.63. The firm has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.85 and a beta of -0.46.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($4.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($6.94) by $2.02. The company had revenue of $62.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($5.34) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -24.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Madrigal Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $405.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. B. Riley raised their price target on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $194.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from $375.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $347.33.

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.