Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.79 Million Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,011,000 after purchasing an additional 148,437 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after purchasing an additional 146,311 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,813,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $21,498,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $293.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $265.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.53. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $129.55 and a 1 year high of $326.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $59.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value of $1,651,302.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This trade represents a 56.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,541,766. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.00.

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.