Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells 2,145 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $263.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.17. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $110.00 and a twelve month high of $267.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.84.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LGND has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.71.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,789,955,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 676.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 254,805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,136,000 after purchasing an additional 221,996 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,011,000 after purchasing an additional 148,437 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after purchasing an additional 146,311 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.