Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New $202,000 Investment in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,876,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,021,000 after purchasing an additional 24,653 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 325,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,263,000 after buying an additional 121,049 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 205,208 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after buying an additional 20,888 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 37,173 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 18,472 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 356.2% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LGND shares. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.25.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND traded up $2.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $101.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 174,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,989. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.02. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $49.24 and a fifty-two week high of $101.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,026,024.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew E. Korenberg sold 3,440 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.54, for a total transaction of $290,817.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,489,591.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.