Castleark Management LLC Decreases Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Castleark Management LLC cut its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,696 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 18,040 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $9,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,011,000 after acquiring an additional 148,437 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 146,311 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $24,813,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $21,498,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LGND. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total transaction of $1,651,302.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This trade represents a 56.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total transaction of $1,151,790.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,969 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,982.72. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252 over the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $300.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $271.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.72. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $129.55 and a 52 week high of $326.63. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.