Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 2,755 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,961 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,755 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LGND. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LGND. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $293.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $265.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.53. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $129.55 and a 12 month high of $326.63. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly 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). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The firm had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total value of $1,566,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,505.92. This represents a 10.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,645,000. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.