Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba Sells 2,145 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $274.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $230.37 and a 200 day moving average of $208.35. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $110.00 and a 12 month high of $276.20.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced 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 business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,295,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after acquiring an additional 4,538 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 143,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,050,000 after acquiring an additional 31,081 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 26,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 9,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 82,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,701,000 after purchasing an additional 11,858 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.71.

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.