Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $144.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ LGND traded up $3.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.78. The stock had a trading volume of 40,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,818. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.10 and its 200 day moving average is $69.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.22 and a beta of 1.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $94.57.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.80% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $30.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.92 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.30, for a total value of $140,649.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 28,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,201.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $107,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.