Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock: Insider Jason Aryeh Sells 282 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.99, for a total value of $90,237.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 108,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,711,235.24. This represents a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 2nd, Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total value of $224,301.00.
• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $306.20 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $298.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.70, a PEG ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $175.89 and a 1 year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The business’s revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LGND has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $354.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,623,000 after acquiring an additional 14,491 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $81,424,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.4% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 170,089 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,131,000 after purchasing an additional 49,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,429,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.