Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $116.33.

LGND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Craig Hallum increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, June 28th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND stock traded up $3.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.47. 144,947 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 150,124. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.80. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $49.24 and a 52 week high of $94.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01. The business had revenue of $30.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.92 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at $2,026,024.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $446,818.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at $2,026,024.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,843,903.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 14,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 32,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.4% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,066 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.